A WOMAN given a parking fine while dropping off her disabled mother in Oxford city centre said the experience had left her bitter.

Sally Cherrill, 46, of Craven Way, Didcot, drove her 80-year-old mother Jean, who cannot walk without aid and regularly uses a wheelchair, into the city to go shopping on Monday.

But despite parking in a disabled space and displaying her disabled badge in the window of her car, she returned just over half an hour later to find a £70 penalty notice on the windscreen.

The disabled badge allows whoever is driving Miss Cherrill’s mother to park in a designated disabled space, free of charge.

When she asked the nearby warden, an Oxfordshire County Council officer, why he had issued the fine, Miss Cherrill said he pointed to small signs ob-scured by a hanging basket, which said the parking bay was suspended.

She said: “If I was able to see the signs, I would obviously not have parked in the space.

“He said it was suspended be-cause of St Giles’ Fair and it would be out of use until September 23.

“But the fair only runs for two days and finished two weeks ago.”

The parking spaces in Broad Street, where the fine was issued, are monitored by the county council.

Council spokesman Paul Smith confirmed that the bays in the street, including the disabled ones, were suspended at the time of the incident.

He added: “This has been done to enable the buses that would normally turn round at the end of Magdalen Street to turn around in Broad Street, having been diverted along Parks Road.

“This was initially done to accommodate the St Giles’ Fair, but following on from that, the eastern side of Magdalen Street is closed for gas works for two weeks.

“Three signs are in place alongside the disabled bays.

“If the person who received this ticket believes he or she has a valid reason to appeal, they are welcome to get in touch.”

But Miss Cherrill said she was still furious about the situation.

She added: “Well, no-one has told me that.

“I have been trying and trying to get hold of someone to talk it through with, but every time I try, I get cut off.

“The whole thing has left my mother and myself very bitter.

“The ticket says the fine will be reduced to £35 if I pay it within the next two weeks, but I intend to fight it all the way.”