10:54am Friday 3rd September 2010
By Clare Hardy
A TAXI driver from Waltham Abbey was shocked when he was slapped with a parking fine while helping a disabled passenger on board.
Nigel Skinner, who runs the Maxi Taxi service, which is based in the town, was loading a woman in a wheelchair onto the back of his cab in Ilford, while the engine was running, when two parking wardens gave him a ticket.
“I was at the back of the vehicle loading the lady in with her wheelchair and the traffic wardens were round the front,” he said. “When they saw what was happening they were very apologetic and said I should appeal.
"They said they would put a note on the ticket and it would be quashed, but that didn't happen.”
He said that Redbridge Council, which gave him the fine, were refusing to back down and had rejected his written appeal.
Mr Skinner was picking his passenger up from an access road near The Exchange shopping centre, where he said loading was allowed, despite double yellow lines.
“That's a good place for me to go and I'm out of the way and not causing anyone any problems,” he added. "The disabled bays were all full up and I would not have been able to operate the wheelchair lift from there anyway.
“I'm just a one man band – it's just me and my minibus doing the best we can and it's not very helpful when I get parking tickets for loading people onto the back of the bus.”
One of Mr Skinner's regular customers, Mike Ver Bruggen, who uses his service to take his disabled mother out, said he was angry with the council.
"My mother has suffered multiple strokes and sometimes taking her out does demand a suitable vehicle," he said. "(Mr Skinner) is helping someone like my mother to get some normality back into her life.
"He's working hard and he's doing a lot. He'll lose out from his own personal life to be there for people."
He added that the way the council had treated Mr Skinner seemed "clinical" and did not take into account how he was helping his community.
The Guardian has asked Redbridge Council to comment.
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