A WOMAN taking her elderly mother and her friend to a doctor’s surgery was fined for parking on a yellow line outside for less than half an hour, because she did not put a clock next to her Blue Badge.

Fiona Hulbert, 56, has accused Redbridge Council of a lack of common sense after was slapped with a £50 ticket while she was inside the Shrubberies practice in George Lane, South Woodford.

The cardboard clocks are designed to prevent Blue Badge holders from exploiting the concession by limiting the amount of time they can park on yellow lines.

But on appeal the doctor’s surgery wrote to the council backing up Mrs Hulbert’s story that she had been parked for less than half an hour – but the authority still refused to budge.

“I’m absolutely incensed,” said Mrs Hulbert, of Mayfield Avenue, Woodford Green.

“If there’s a car parked outside a doctor’s surgery with a blue badge in the window, it’s completely obvious why it’s there.

“I admit I broke the rules by not having it there but the surgery’s practice manager wrote to the council to point out I wasn’t abusing the badge. This has never happened to me before.

“My mother and her friend have mobility problems so we had to park there and we only popped in for my mother to book an appointment and her friend to register, which didn’t take very long.

“When we came out I couldn’t believe it. The two ladies were quite upset about it but at first I thought it must be some kind of mistake.

“I just think they should show some common sense.” After weeks of letter-writing and complaints she has finally given up and reluctantly paid the fine for the incident, which happen back in April.

But Mrs Hulbert added that she wanted other Blue Badge holders to be wary of using the permits in South Woodford without the clocks.

A spokeswoman for Redbridge Council said: "It is a legal requirement that the user of a disabled blue badge when parking on restrictions has to set the clock at the time of arrival and display it correct.

"Every badge holder on receipt of their badge receives a booklet issued by the Department of Transport advising fully how to use the badge.

"They have a right of appeal which can finally be heard by the Parking Adjudicator at the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service."