THE son of an elderly woman, caught up in a concessionary parking dispute, has slammed Wychavon District Council for being heartless.

Eighty-five-year-old Nancy Connell, from Pinvin, stuck a concessionary 20p parking ticket on her windscreen, which she thought covered her for an hour, but she should have used three concessionary tickets to cover the cost. When she returned to the car in Pershore car park within the hour, she was upset to find a fixed penalty notice attached to her windscreen.

She and her son, Hugh Connell, visited the council offices immediately to explain, but were told to put the complaint in writing, which she did. About six weeks elapsed and she thought the fine had been waived but then a letter demanding £60 came through her letterbox.

Mr Connell, who lives in Harvington, said: "My mother was very upset. The treatment of the council's elderly people is absolutely appalling. They give people concessionary tickets to help them and then they do exactly the opposite because pensioners do not follow the rules exactly.

"I wonder how many other vulnerable people have had demand notes through their doors and paid them because they were too frightened to complain. She was penalised for the mistake many times more than the concessionary tickets were worth - it's extortion."

Principal parking services officer Christine Hiden said the council was governed by the Road Traffic Act Legislation which covers concessionary parking.

She said: "The ticket being used was an old one. When they were allocated it was 20p for an hour, now the minimum for parking in Pershore is 50p for two hours."