THE mother of a disabled teenager has spoken of her disgust after a traffic warden slapped the family's specially adapted vehicle with a parking ticket because it was too big to fit in a parking space.

Maria Wraight had taken 14-year-old Brandon into Swindon town centre for a coffee following a rebound therapy session, parking their new vehicle in the short stay car park off Commercial Road.

The large Renault Master has a lift at the rear for lifting Brandon, who is living with Cornelia de Lange syndrome, in and out of the vehicle and was taking up a parking space and half of the one behind it.

The extra space is required to operate the lift.

The family only took delivery of the new vehicle in July having previously had a Hyundai i800, which was proving impractical to accommodate Brandon in his wheelchair along with his five siblings.

Upon returning to the car Maria found she had been slapped with a £50 parking fine, reduced to £25 if paid within a fortnight.

But having explained her situation – and even having his blue badge on display at the time - Swindon Borough Council has dismissed her appeal against the fine, saying that the vehicle was simply too big for the space they had parked in.

She explained she had parked in the Granville Street car park as it was close to the town centre.

“Given his condition there is always an oxygen cannister in the car. If he was taken poorly I would have to get to the car straight away,” she said.

“I was really cross when I saw the ticket and went to the council offices straight away, only to be kept waiting for half an hour to be told the person I needed to speak to had already gone home.

“They now run the car parks at Lydiard and Coate Water, which means now I can’t take him out into the community without having to pay a £25 fine every time. It is just ludicrous.”

A spokesman for the council said: “Everyone who receives a parking ticket can appeal to us, and if we reject that appeal the driver then has the right to take their case, entirely free of charge, to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, where an adjudicator will make a decision which is binding.

"The adjudicator does not always find in our favour. Mrs Wraight still has that option, and the process is described on the parking ticket.

“Blue badges entitle holders to park on the street in restricted areas, such as on yellow lines, if safe to do so, but the badges do not extend these privileges to car parks.

"We provide disabled parking bays in many of our car parks including Granville Street, but Mrs Wraight’s vehicle would appear to be too long for those or for a standard bay.”