Rider injured in traffic warden accident given parking ticket

Karlos Dearman, 19, was travelling along the busy Queens Road in Sheffield when a traffic warden, whose car was parked in a bus lane with beacons flashing, opened the car door.

The door hit Mr Dearman on the ankle and he was taken to hospital by ambulance, where he spent five days receiving treatment.

But, while he was in hospital recovering, another traffic warden put a £60 fixed penalty notice on his abandoned scooter, which remained on Queens Road.

Mr Dearman, who works as a bicycle mechanic, said he thought it was a “sick joke” at first.

He said: “I was taken to hospital by ambulance with an open fracture – obviously I had to leave my bike at the side of the road.

“So I couldn’t believe it when my dad went to collect it the following morning and there was a parking ticket on it.

“I thought my dad was winding me up, because it had been a traffic warden who had hit my scooter in the first place.

“But when he told me it was true I felt angry and disbelief that they would do this to me.

“I know the traffic warden didn’t mean to hit me, but to be issued with a parking ticket is a bit much.”

A Sheffield Council spokesman said that the parking attendant called an ambulance for Mr Dearman and police placed a notice on his motorcycle, giving it special dispensation from being ticketed.

However, the notice had been removed some 24 hours later when the parking ticket was issued by the council.

Kevan Butt, parking services manager at Sheffield Council, said: “The penalty charge notice in question has already been cancelled.

“It seems the notice South Yorkshire Police placed on the vehicle was removed.

“Unfortunately the officer who issued the notice was unaware of the special measures that had been granted, and, as the police notice had been removed, they wouldn’t have known.

“We wish Mr Dearman a speedy recovery and we will not be upholding the parking charge notice.”