A disgruntled Armagh business owner has spoken of her annoyance after an elderly regular customer was ticketed for “incorrectly displaying a blue badge”.
The business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said the customer had parked in a disabled bay early on Friday morning and had either mistakenly displayed her badge “back to front or upside down” before leaving her car to partake in her usual Friday shopping in the Shambles area of the city.
The customer, who is described as being “an unassuming elderly lady” was parked properly in the spot and had not exceeded her time limit in the space at the time when the traffic warden was citing the vehicle.
A member of the public who recognised the vehicle spoke with the warden to make them aware that the owner of the vehicle was indeed disabled and had clearly made a mistake with the badge only to be told, “she can appeal it.”
Speaking to Armagh I, the business owner said: “I am just so annoyed. It takes effort for this lady to come into town regularly on a Friday and we should be welcoming business to the city centre but this is driving business away.
“This lady will now have to go through the hassle of appealing her ticket and at her age it is stress she doesn’t need. She didn’t want a fuss but to be honest I was just so annoyed by the whole thing.”
Issues such as this have long plagued the city centre, with one business accusing traffic wardens of ‘kicking Armagh businesses when its down‘ back in 2019 and similar issue arose in 2020, when a Mall dentist’s calls for on-street parking restrictions to be increased from one to two hour increments was met with a “very disappointing” response.
Let us know your thoughts on the parking situation in Armagh and our local towns.
