A PENSIONER has condemned as ‘ludicrous’ being fined for parking his diesel-powered car in an electric car charging-bay ... with no charger.

Stan Frost, 72, used the space on the Brown Street car park in Blackburn on December 22 while taking his 99-year-old mother, Mary, Christmas shopping.

Noticing four electric vehicle ‘charging only’ bays close to the entrance to The Mall, he inspected the signs which said they were reserved for electric vehicles that were actively charging.

As no charging points were installed, he assumed the parking restrictions on the space were also not yet operational and parked his Nissan Qashqai in the bay marked ‘disabled’, displaying his mother’s valid blue badge.

Dr Frost, brought up in Blackburn where his mother still lives, was surprised to receive a £70 penalty charge notice last month and promptly appealed against it.

Blackburn with Darwen Council rejected his plea, telling him: “Our civil enforcement officer observed your vehicle for a minimum of five minutes for charging activity. However none was witnessed and therefore a penalty charge notice was issued.”

Dr Frost, who lives in Cheshire, said: “This parking ticket is ludicrous. How can can you be issued with a parking ticket for being in an bay reserved for charging electric vehicles when there is no charger?

“When I first received a parking ticket, I thought it was issued by an over-zealous traffic warden and would be cancelled when I lodged an appeal.

“I was parked in a disabled bay with a blue badge correctly displayed.

“I consider it unreasonable for enforcement to issue a ticket for being ‘parked in an electric vehicle’s charging place during restricted hours without charging’ when charging is unavailable.

“My view is that it is unreasonable for the council to issue PCNs on a charging station that is not yet operational and consider it unfair for me to receive a ticket.”

Following the Lancashire Telegraph’s intervention the fine was cancelled yesterday. Dr Frost said: “I am grateful to the Telegraph for taking up my case and pleased common sense has prevailed.”

Council operations director Martin Eden said: “We have reviewed the notice issued to Dr Frost.

“His vehicle was parked in the disabled electric charging space, and while he displayed a blue badge, his vehicle is not an electric vehicle. I accept there was no electric charging facility on site at the time.

“The traffic regulation order states these parking bays must only be used for electric vehicles and they must be charging, therefore the council was within its rights to issue the PCN.

“However, given the fact that there was a blue badge displayed and that the electric charging facility was not yet operational, I have agreed to cancel this PCN. I would urge people not to park in the disabled electric charging space as the charging facility will be operational in a few weeks.”