'Scrap Conquest parking charges'

The move comes after his wife was slapped with a parking ticket after rushing their granddaughter to hospital with a suspected infection.

Mr Wootton said: "All the residents of Hastings know that the Conquest Hospital charges for car parking but it is not until an incident occurs to your family do you realise just how bad and very unpopular it is.

"My six-year-old granddaughter is in remission with leukaemia and recently my wife Jill had to rush her into Kipling Ward with a suspected infection.

"She parked the car at the entrance to the ward and placed our granddaughter's disabled badge on the dashboard.

"Unbeknown to her as she got our grandchild out it must have slipped on the ground because when she later came back she had a parking ticket.

"She appealed against it and the ticket was rescinded. But in order to get it cancelled she had to take time to write the appeal, send photocopies of the disabled badge, pay the cost of a stamp and the worry of still possibly having to pay the fine."

Hastings resident Mr Wootton said he was rushed into the Conquest Hospital with chest pains and during this time his wife was worrying about getting a parking ticket because she did not know how long he would be at the Conquest.

He said: "The next morning I was told I would be released with a clean bill of health at around 11am. Once again my wife put some money in the meter but had to go back and put more money in because I was not released until the afternoon.

"Why should visitors and relatives have to worry about parking meters when they visit the hospital?

"We all have enough worry on our minds when we have to visit our relatives.

"Other hospitals in the country are doing away with car parking charges and I think it time our hospital did the same.

"It is unpopular, nobody likes it or wants it, and I would urge everybody in this town to write and protest to the trust about it."

A hospital trust spokesman said: "The trust accepts that the car park penalty notice appeals process may appear complicated however in order to fairly assess all appeals it is essential that the Appeals Panel has the necessary information to make the right decisions.

"Clearly for the case highlighted the panel recognised the patient's problems given the fact that the disabled badge had slipped to the ground and upheld the appeal, withdrawing the fine.

"We do recognise that delays can occur when attending hospital.

"When a patient or visitor is concerned about a time overrun on their ticket they can contact a member of staff to get in contact with the parking office on their behalf to ensure that no action is taken.

"We acknowledge there can be problems with the current Pay and Display ticket scheme and are therefore planning to implement a Pay on Exit system which is to be installed next spring."