A GOOD Samaritan has told how she was given a parking ticket – as she tried to help a girl lying unconscious in the street.
Lesley Mair jumped out of car in Edinburgh after spotting the girl lying “blacked out” on the pavement.
The 43-year-old helped the girl find a place to sit after she woke up complaining of stomach pains and then waiting with her for an ambulance.
But none of that cut any ice with an overzealous parking attendant who slapped a £60 fine on her car because it was parked in a disabled bay.
Lesley said she pleaded with the warden but he just “shrugged his shoulders” and turned his back on her.
Edinburgh City Council said yesterday they were willing to cancel the notice and pledged to investigate the “conduct of the parking attendant”.
Lesley, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, was driving to work when she was caught up in the drama in the Portobello area of Edinburgh.
She said: “I thought the girl was dead at first but after a while she regained consciousness and I think she’d had a seizure or blacked out.
“Obviously I panicked when I saw that and parked up quickly to get to her – at the same time two people arrived to help and when she came round she was a bit groggy and dazed.
“She was complaining of stomach pains so we took her into the Bank of Scotland to keep her warm and called an ambulance.
“It was while we were in there I noticed I was getting a parking ticket – it had been a matter of moments.”
Lesley hit out at the attendant for his “lack of consideration”.
She added: “My only concern was for the lady on the street, I wasn’t looking where I was parking.
“The parking attendant must have looked over and seen the commotion going on.
“I am utterly appalled by the lack of consideration given by this man who, when I told him the situation, just shrugged his shoulders and turned his back on me.”
A shop worker who saw the incident unfold said the decision to issue a ticket was “unbelievable”.
She said: “We saw the woman being helped by some people and then being taken to the bank.
“Next thing there was a parking attendant looking at the cars and he started writing a ticket – it’s unbelievable he could do that.”
The parking attendant works for an outside firm called NSL who are hired in to monitor the parking behaviour in the area.
NSL said they were “satisfied with the behaviour of the attendant” during the incident.
A spokesman said: “The parking attendant arrived at the scene where he saw a car parked in a disabled bay.
“While he was issuing a ticket a woman and a police officer exited a nearby bank and approached him and explained the situation behind the why the car was parked there.
“The attendant explained he could not reverse the issued ticket but outlined the appeals process where the police officer and woman then returned to the bank.
“We are satisfied with the behaviour of the attendant and are glad to hear the injured girl turned out to be alright in the end.”
It is also understood NSL wardens work on a commission basis but the firm only said “contracts for attendants vary for each local authority”.
Edinburgh City Council’s transport convenor Lesley Hinds said the council would be willing to refund the ticket.
She said: “If Ms Mair was assisting with a medical emergency we will of course cancel the ticket when she raises it with us.
“We will also take her comments regarding the conduct of the parking attendant seriously and will investigate the matter with NSL.”
