Exclusive by Alan Quick

AN off-duty nurse who is also a Crediton firefighter whose vehicle was given a Penalty Charge Notice parking ticket by a Devon County Council enforcement officer while he was assisting at a road accident involving an elderly man under a Stagecoach bus in Crediton High Street, has had the notice cancelled.

Immediately after the incident, during the morning of Tuesday, August 29, Reg Barker said he was very angry after he received the ticket on his van.

Reg, who lives on the High Street, parked his vehicle and stopped at the scene at about 11.15am, comforting the elderly man until an ambulance crew arrived.

Taking to “Facebook” immediately afterwards, Reg said: “My blood is boiling…apparently giving first aid to a man lying bleeding under a bus is not any excuse for parking on yellow lines.

“It is also apparently more important that the traffic warden carries on up the High Street issuing parking tickets than help deal with the traffic chaos developing because the bus was partially blocking the road.

“Left members of the public to deal with the incident and carried on making money for the council (please see also my Christmas rants about the councils using wardens to make money). I suppose I should have driven on but I thought we lived in a different world.

“My bank balance would have been better if I stayed in bed today.”

The elderly man was removed from under the bus by the volunteers and the ambulance crew and witnesses said it was “a good sign” that the man was “stood upright” before being taken to hospital by the land ambulance.

Police attended the scene of the accident outside the Crediton High Street branch of Lloyds Bank and interviewed witnesses.

CALMED DOWN

Speaking after he had calmed down, Reg admitted that he had parked partly on the pavement and double yellow lines just past the accident.

He said he hoped that Devon County Council would rescind his parking ticket after he explained the situation in his email reply. Reg said that he had left his children in his van during the incident.

He said on Wednesday: “The main thing is that the man is going to be ok.

“At the time I couldn’t tell if he had been run over by the bus so stopped and helped at the scene.

“I didn’t think I caused as much of an obstruction to the traffic flow as the bus which was causing a great deal of traffic congestion.

“At least I know I fulfilled my moral obligation to help someone, I just thought parking there would have been OK.”

CANCELLED

Yesterday, Thursday, a spokesman for Devon County Council told the “Courier”: “We value and support the emergency services and medical practitioners and we would not issue a Penalty Charge Notice if it is clear that they are in pursuit of their duties or responding to an emergency.

"In some instances the situation cannot be clear to the officer who will be dealing with an unmarked vehicle parked in contravention, and that is exactly why there is a robust and fair appeals process in place, so we can review the situation for customers who feel they should not have received a penalty charge notice.

“The gentleman has now contacted the appeals team explaining the events and that he was assisting in a nearby incident. Therefore, the penalty charge notice will be cancelled and no further action is needed.”