Hospital parking blunder left Blue Badge holders £70 out of pocket

A parking system blunder at South Tyneside's main hospital has left Blue Badge holders baffled and bewildered-and temporarily out of pocket.

- by Gareth Crickmer

Some have been sent fines demanding payment of £70 after being wrongly accused of breaching parking rules.

Several have coughed up the cash believing they had made an error while using bays at South Tyneside District Hospital.

But hospital bosses now admit Parkingeye, the company which runs the CCTV system which monitors motorists entering and leaving the Harton Lane site, has erred.

A glitch to a computer data upgrade is being blamed for the details of some Blue Badge holders being erased.

It has led to a number of motorists being sent Parking Charge Notices (PCNs).

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said all fines had now been cancelled and refunds had been made where required.

One irate Blue Badge holder told the Gazette he had been issued with two tickets-two months apart.