I had to leave my car because I had diarrhea – now the council have fined me £30

A man was outraged after he was fined £30 for leaving his car at an electric vehicle charging station when he was ill.

Walter Grieve, 66, from Edinburgh, claimed he was parked at the Drumbrae Library Hub, which is run by the local authority, at 10am on March 6.

However, he had to abandon his car because he suffered from diarrhea during the lunch break and could not make it back to the vehicle within the 12-hour deadline.

After writing to Edinburgh City Council what had happened, he was nevertheless fined £30 for overstaying.

He said Edinburgh Live He even raised the issue with his local council, explaining: “It’s the whole process of emailing and not getting a response, chasing and then not getting a response, then complaining and still not getting a response .”

Walter Grieve, 66, from Edinburgh, has revealed he was fined £30 for leaving his car at an electric vehicle charging station when he was ill

Walter, who has been using an electric vehicle since early 2021, said he would typically charge his car for between six and seven hours.

He claimed to have parked at the charging port around 10am before going home to have some lunch.

He said he was “unwell” but managed to eat something.

But Walter claimed his stomach upset prevented him from collecting his car within the 12-hour deadline, meaning he arrived around 11.30pm to collect the vehicle.

Knowing he was likely to be fined, he did so immediately I emailed the council the next day to explain the situation.

Despite this, he was fined £30 for overstaying on 6 March and 11 weeks later he still hadn’t received a reply from the city authorities.

He explained: ‘I have followed up my appeal three times over the following weeks with no response.’

He then made a formal complaint to Edinburgh Council by telephone and followed up on several occasions.

He claimed to have received an email saying they would get back to him by the end of the week – but he heard nothing.

He claimed he was parked at the Drumbrae Library Hub, which is operated by the local authority, at 10am on March 6 (pictured).

Walter said he “finally” received a response earlier this week with a letter asking for “evidence of his extenuating circumstances.”

He explained: “I had a stomach ailment and diarrhea – that’s why you wouldn’t go to the GP even if you could get an appointment.”

A spokesman for Edinburgh City Council said Edinburgh Live officials responded to Walter to give the appeal priority.

The news came days after a government minister, two Tory MPs and an SNP representative were asked to pay back hundreds of pounds in fare fines they claimed were expenses.

Amanda Solloway, an Energy Department minister who formerly served under Home Secretary Suella Braverman and is also the head of government, is one of four MPs who claimed the fines, as listed in the expense register.

The Derby North MP recovered a £80 fine from Transport for London dated 2 July 2020.

Tory MPs Simon Hoare and Bim Afolami and SNP MP Dave Doogan also made similar claims, The Independent reported.

Now the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is said to be contacting claimants and demanding repayment of the money after admitting they wrongly allowed the payments.

A spokesman for the regulator said: “MPs may not claim penalties and fines under IPSA rules.” Paragraph 3.26 of the Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs clearly states that these fines cannot be claimed.

“In some cases, IPSA’s checks failed to identify these claims and some of them were paid.”

“We will contact MPs and ask them to pay back if necessary.” “We have changed our procedure to ensure that such claims are not paid in the future and will repeat the rules of the system to MPs.”