Vince Cable

Vincent Cable, MP, has attacked Hounslow Council for what he described as "utterly" and "inhumane" treatment meted out to our local residents.

Two local residents (one from Hampton Hill; another from Whitton) were treated in this manner when they were visiting seriously ill relatives at the West Middlesex Hospital. Both included parking on Park Road where there are no residents and no safety issues.

In one case, according to Vincent Cable, a 76 year old Hampton Hill woman, feeding her critically ill husband, was told that her car was being turned away; she had to abandon her husband; get a taxi; and retrieve her car from White City only after permission was initially refused because she did not have insurance papers and after paying a £250 charge. In another case, on the same stretch of road, a Whitton woman with throat cancer was fined £100 after an appeal was rejected explaining that the parking ticket had been removed from the car.

Vincent Cable said: "I get some pretty outrageous cases of unfair parking fines. But Hounslow Council are the limit. They seem utterly insensitive to hardship cases and show no flexibility. The case of the elderly lady whose car was towed away is utterly appalling with no expression of regret. I am seeking to have her compensated for the cost and given an apology. But residents who go to the West Middlesex and do not use the official car park must be very careful; they could find themselves caught up in the same scam".