Traffic warden faces backlash after slapping parking ticket on ambulance while paramedic takes patient to hospital

A traffic warden faced a backlash after putting a parking ticket on an ambulance service’s rapid response vehicle while a paramedic helped a patient to hospital.

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust car was parked on double yellow lines for two hours while the emergency service worker took the patient to hospital nearby.

But when passersby confronted the warden at the scene in Driffield, East Yorkshire, they were told: “he will have to appeal it”.

Mum-of-three Emily Dean, 27, who caught the incident on camera after spotting several people crowded round the parking attendant, said: “I was quite shocked, you don’t expect to see an ambulance with a ticket on the windscreen.

“A few people were trying to tell the parking attendant that the paramedic had gone off in an ambulance. They said he will have to appeal it.”

She added: “We were watching her do it, the ambulance had been parked there for a couple of hours. I don’t understand what has made her do it, what has gone through her head?”

The parking ticket included a fine of £25-35 if paid within 14 days – increasing to £50-70 if not paid within that period.

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But East Riding of Yorkshire Council has since revoked the ticket after liaising with Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

A spokesman for the Council said: “We have spoken to the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust and understand the ambulance vehicle had been left parked for about two hours while the paramedic accompanied a patient to hospital.

“We are pleased to say we’ve been able to resolve this matter quickly.”

A Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust spokesperson said: We can confirm that one of our paramedics left his rapid response vehicle parked in Driffield yesterday while he accompanied a poorly patient to hospital on an ambulance with colleagues.

“We understand that the parking ticket issued will be waived by East Riding of Yorkshire
Council due to these circumstances and we are grateful to the authority for doing so.”