A doctor has slammed a parking firm for fining him after helping a collapsed colleague earned him a parking ticket in Chesterfield

Dr Ramy Al-Rufaie, a GP who regularly teaches trainees in Chesterfield was fined by Premier parking for the infringement in June this year.

He told th eDerbyshire Times: "Back in June, I parked in the pay and display car park adjacent to DHU (the out of hours clinical hub, which also hosts teaching sessions during the daytime).

"As I was returning to my vehicle at the end of a teaching session, I stopped to help a member of DHU staff, who had suddenly collapsed from a heavy nose bleed; as a result, I was delayed in returning to my car by about 20 minutes. A few weeks later, I received a parking fine from Premier Parking for having overstayed my allocated time.

Woman 'wrongfully' fined after parking at Chesterfield's Ravenside Retail Park on day clocks changed"I wrote a letter of appeal to Premier Parking with the offer of a supporting statement from the member of staff who collapsed that day - and, to my amazement, it was rejected. I was told that I should have either rung Premier Parking as soon as I returned to my vehicle, or else retroactively paid for another hour’s parking. Ultimately, I had to pay Premier Parking £60, just to avoid a larger £100 fine.

"It's not something hat naturally came to mind . I would would hope they would be understanding . I was genuinely shocked . My only option is to escalate this to the ombudsman but if I lost that I would have to pay the higher fee of £100.

"I didn't want to take the risk and just had to swallow my pride and pay £60. Everyone has said it was incredibly unfair . I want to share my story - it makes it all look like a money making exercise."

In a letter rejecting his appeal, Premier parking wrote: "As your vehicle remained on site for three hours and 24 minutes with only a payment of three hours purchased. We note your comments and reasons for appeal; however we must advise that you could have purchased additional time via the machine upon returning to your vehicle, to authorise your additional stay. Furthermore, we must advise that you could have phoned us to explain your circumstances, our number is on the signage. on this occasion as you admit to overstaying your paid parking session, we can confirm that this PCN has been issued correctly."