A DRIVER helping frail patients into an ambulance at hospital, has been issued with a parking fine for stopping on double yellow lines.

Union representatives have reacted with disbelief after a warden slapped a £25 parking ticket on the ambulance as the driver helped patients on board at the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City.

Several patients were already inside the vehicle at the time, waiting for the driver to help more people into the vehicle from the Nurses Practitioners' unit.

Ray McDermott, Unison steward with the North-East Ambulance Service, said the female driver was told by the traffic warden she should have parked outside the casualty department, about 50 yards up the road.

Mr McDermott said it is the first time in his entire career with the ambulance service, that he has known an ambulance be issued with a parking ticket.

"She was told in future to park near casualty, which is quite a distance away for patients who are infirm and have disabilities or difficulties walking," he said.

"Our service is here to deliver the best possible care. We try to drop patients off as near to their appointment as possible. Surely to God a traffic warden doesn't have power to put tickets on ambulances?"

Parking charges for staff and visitors were introduced in 2001 after the former Dryburn Hospital was rebuilt under a Private Finance Initiative and reopened as the University Hospital of North Durham.

Arthur Lemin, director of patient transport services with the North East Ambulance Service played down the incident, but said the trust would not be paying the parking fine.

He said: "While the hospital has made adequate provision for ambulances, there will always be occasions when there will be more ambulances parked up than usual.

"We have a great relationship with the hospital and I honestly think this is a set of unfortunate circumstances and I very much doubt we will see this issue again.

"We're going to be in discussions to make sure the situation is fully understood about the fact that ambulances are allowed to park in no parking areas to drop off patients. I very much doubt we will be paying the parking fine."

A hospital spokesman said: "We would like to offer our profuse apologies to the ambulance service.

"This is clearly the action of an over-zealous attendant from the car-parking management company that looks after the parking facility for us. We're already talking to them to ensure it doesn't happen again."