Beverley nurse who stopped to help pensioner gets demand from bailiff - two years later

East Yorkshire mother-of-three Rachael Carron had only left her car for six minutes and after protesting thought the £75 fine had been dropped.

But this week a bailiff turned up on her doorstep demanding a £400 late payment penalty from her 16 year-old daughter who was the only one at home.

Fuming Rachael, 49, who now taking legal advice said: “They are threatening and intimidating.

“He should never have addressed my daughter about this - she is a child.

“She didn’t answer the door so he was shouting through a window in the middle of the street saying I owed money.

“They said they would be back the next day and would come in and be taking things.”

Single Rachael, from Beverley, went straight to her local Citizens Advice Bureau and has been given an appointment with a solicitor to discuss the case.

The bailiff returned on Wednesday but was once again sent away.

Rachael added: “I am not going to let them into my house to take goods.

“I’m prepared to go to prison over this, it’s a disgrace.

“It incenses me so much and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

“I didn’t pay it on a matter of principle.

“It was £75, which is extortionate for being five or six minutes late. If I’d been parked there half-an-hour or an hour over then fair enough.”

The row dates from November 2013 when Rachael left her car to help an elderly woman in Beverley.

She got back just as a traffic warden was writing her ticket, but despite pleading with him after explaining the situation, she was told the ticket had already been digitally produced.

She appealed to her local East Riding Council but then she was contacted by Jacobs, a debt recovery firm working for the council.

She replied explaining her appeal - and after she heard nothing back she assumed the company had dropped its case against her.

East Riding Council said the decision to use enforcement officers was “dictated by law” and was not under council control.

A spokesman said: “The laws place an expectation on the motorist and the parking enforcement authority to follow the appeals process without exception.

“Failing to respond to the charge certificate could lead to an application by the council to Northampton County Court to recover the debt.

“This council has contracted the services of three Enforcement Agencies since 2011, to serve and collect on warrants issued by the courts for outstanding parking penalty charges, one of which is Jacobs.”

Jacobs Enforcement Agency has been contacted for comment.