Parking warden issues a ticket to ambulance while paramedics grab water from Tesco
A parking warden issued a ticket to an ambulance left on double yellow lines while paramedics popped into a supermarket to buy water.
The emergency staff were taking their first break for eight hours and stopped at the Tesco Express at Kingsmead Square, Northwich, Cheshire, at about 3pm on Tuesday.
The North West Ambulance Service workers planned to nip into the supermarket to buy a bottle of water during the continuing hot weather.
However, they were served with a parking ticket by a warden working in the area.
An exchange between the parking warden and ambulance staff was captured on camera by witness Ian French.
In the video, the paramedic pleads to the warden: “I’ve had nothing to drink and nothing to eat.”
Mr French, 47, a cameraman, said: “I felt so strongly about the unfairness of what was happening that I started filming on my iPhone, hoping to bring attention to what was happening to the hardworking paramedics.
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“I believe they were just collecting some food and water eight hours into their shift.
“The parking enforcement signs were only installed a few weeks ago. The locals are not happy about it, nor are some of the businesses.”
Mr French was collecting his daughter from school when he saw the parking warden issue the ticket.
In the video, he can be heard explaining the paramedics were on call, but the warden answers: “It’s not on call – she was having lunch. Where’s the sirens?
“They are getting some food so they are not on call are they?”
The female paramedic then appears and asks where she should park, because the van doesn’t fit in any of the bays – apart from disabled spots.
She says: “I’ve been on since quarter to seven this morning. I’ve had nothing to drink and nothing to eat, and now I’d like to go to Tesco to get some water.”
But the parking warden responds: “I understand, that’s fine, you can do that, but you can’t be parking on a double yellow line, can you?”
It is understood the car park is not run by Tesco, but a private firm.
