A PARAPLEGIC fined for straddling two parking bays with his car has hit out at unfit disabled spaces.

Geoff Palmer, a blue badge holder, left his car across two spaces in Copenhagen Street car park in Worcester so he would have enough room to get from his Volvo and into his wheelchair.

He went to watch a Twenty20 cricket game at the nearby New Road ground but returned to find a fixed penalty notice on his windscreen.

The £25 ticket was issued by Worcester City Council because the car was not within a marked bay.

Mr Palmer, of Pensham, near Pershore, immediately wrote to the city council parking enforcement department, but his appeal was turned down on Monday, July 28.

He said: “I expected them to consider why I had done it and if anything to go and change these bays and make them more suitable.

“These bays are marked up as disabled but are not fit for purpose.”

He claims he had to straddle the spaces, at the car park’s riverside end, because there was not enough room to open the driver’s side door and get into his wheelchair using just one space.

He said: “I could have parked normally but if someone had then parked in the space beside me I wouldn’t have been able to open the door wide enough to get back in.”

He said the bays did not fit the Department for Transport’s own guidelines which set out how much space a disabled bay should have, including a 120cm (47ins) designated side area.

Four of the car park’s six disabled bays fit the guidelines, but were occupied when Mr Palmer pulled into the car park on Tuesday, June 17.

Mr Palmer, a Worcestershire County Council worker, also hit out at the length of time taken to deal with his appeal claim.

Terry Norwood, Worcester Shopmobility charity manager, said: “I can understand what this guy has done.

“I do think it’s a bit harsh – the city council needs to use a bit of common sense.

“But as far as the council’s car parks go I haven’t had any complaints from disabled people being unable to find a space.”

Andy Chinn, city council parking enforcement team leader, said: “When you drive into a car park, that is how the car park is on that day.

“If you feel you cannot get into a bay then you can always park somewhere else – inconvenient as that is. If we lived in utopia all the disabled bays would be as set out in the Government’s guidelines – which we are striving towards.”

He said the suitability of all disabled bays across council-owned car parks would be the focus of a future review.