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'SO UNFAIR'

Midwife to appear in court after refusing to pay hefty parking fine she was issued while on an essential call to mum and baby

Maternity care

A MIDWIFE is facing a court battle after receiving a £70 parking ticket while conducting an essential home visit to a new mum and her baby.

Despite leaving a sign in her car window with “midwife on call” written on it while attending to the parent in Hayes, near London, Kara Fielder was later slapped with the fine for “non-payment”.

Maternity care
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Midwife Kara Fielder is due in court over the battle after refusing to pay a £70 parking fine she received while on an essential visitCredit: Press Association

The 34-year-old says there was no sign saying she could not park in the area, and no ticket when she eventually returned to her vehicle.

After refusing to pay the fine, issued by Parking Control Management, it rose to £279, and she is due to appear in court over the battle next month.

A traffic warden issues a parking ticket to an illegally parked car.
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The 34-year-old midwife was slapped with the fine despite leaving a sign saying 'midwife on call' in her windowCredit: Alamy

In an interview with the , the mum-of-one told how she is no stranger to parking tickets because of her line of work, but that they are normally quick to resolve.

She told the paper: “Usually I challenge them and because of the nature of my work the appeal is usually granted.

“These are often essential visits to women who are often at serious risk.

“I wanted to draw attention to this issue as it is something that causes immense stress to us as midwives, but this particular one was so unfair for so many reasons that I refused to back down and pay it.”

The 34-year-old added she has been unable to gather evidence to support the case as she “never saw the original ticket”, though the firm later showed her snaps of the ticket under her car’s windscreen wiper.

Parking ticket penalty charge notice on the windscreen under a wiper blade traffic ticket windshield ticket parking car ticket
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Eye-watering amount ... after refusing to pay the Parking Control Management fine, the figure has risen to £279Credit: Alamy

Fielder told the Evening Standard she is considering starting a petition for midwives to be made “exempt from parking fines”.

She said: “It is really not an easy job to begin with, so the stress of worrying about having to pay £35 to £40 while doing our job just adds to the pressure.”


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