Police 'heavy handed'in swoopon parents

POLICE in a riot van swooped on parents as they collected disabled children from a special school in South Yorkshire.

The operation was mounted to hand out parking tickets as parents collected wheelchair-bound youngsters from Hilltop special school in Maltby, Rotherham.

Now the officers have been accused of being “rude” and “heavy handed” after they issued fines to parents waiting for children in wheelchairs.

One parent, Dave Phillips, was handed a 30 fixed penalty when he stopped to pick up his 16-year-old son Matthew.

Mr Phillips said: “The police response has been heavy handed and it’s the kids they are penalising, not us.

“The police behaviour was unpleasant and completely unnecessary. Nine officers and a police van created an intimidating atmosphere around the school.

“I was approached by a young policewoman who told me to ‘move’ – not ‘excuse me, sir’. I explained to the officer I was going to park here for five minutes to get my son.

“I said he’s a wheelchair user and we have got a side loading lift. ‘Not my problem’, was the reply, ‘move it’.

“I refused and she gave me a 30 ticket, but it was her attitude that annoyed me more. I’ve been parking in the same spot for the last 12 years, there are no yellow lines or restrictions to be seen.”

Mr Phillips said police told parents to park up to 150 yards away from the school entrance.

Headteacher Peter Leach said there had been long-standing problems with parking.

A meeting to discuss the parking problems with police was already organised and Mr Leach said he was surprised when so many officers turned up.

A police spokesman: “Badly parked vehicles in the area cause disruption and it can be dangerous. They only turned up in a riot van because it was the only vehicle available at the time.