Sheffield NHS workers blast 'ridiculous' parking fines issued near Royal Hallamshire Hospital

Shelley Norris, who works at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, said she and her colleagues have been fined by the council more than once this month over an ‘invalid permit’.

Describing the fines as ‘ridiculous’, the clerical officer said NHS staff should be allowed to park their vehicles beyond the five-hour maximum parking permit as long as they follow the parking rules.

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"We're told that the five hours don't apply to us, based on the agreement the NHS has with the Sheffield City Council,” she said

"But then they start giving everybody tickets and they must have given the tickets to hundreds of people. In my office alone, some have had two each, and some people I know have had several.”

Mrs Norris said she had emailed the department that issued the tickets and was informed that their permits were valid until the end of October.

"I even printed off this email and put it on my dashboard. Sometimes, I have been alright and I have not got one, but when you come out at tea time, you see that they have given loads of people tickets,” she said.

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"They (the tickets) said they're not displaying the permits or gone over the hours which obviously do not apply to us.

"(The situation) is already bad at the minute with what's going on but we have multiple parking tickets.

“It is just getting ridiculous, the amount of people they're ticketing.”

Mrs Norris, who was fined £25 and £50 on separate occasions, said she would appeal but this could take weeks.

"Nobody gets anything back. It did say it (the appeal) could take weeks. It's just too much hassle when they have got the option to explain the situation,” she said.

"I know somebody who didn’t bother to appeal and just paid the fines. I wonder how much money they are making when people just choose to pay instead of doing the appeal,” she said.

The Star has contacted Sheffield Council for a response.