Revealed: Not one parking fine issued at Walsall Manor Hospital for two years

The trust which runs the hospital "re-commenced" fines in April, meaning patients and visitors could have got away without paying before then, the Express & Star has learned.

Since April more than 550 fines have been handed out.

The Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the Manor, said fines were suspended due to "staff issues and contract re-negotiating".

It costs from £2.80 for an hour to £4.80 for five hours at the hospital. Patients and visitors continued to pay to park unaware there was no prospect of them being punished for failing to do so.

It also means the hospital trust missed out on a significant amount of cash generated from fines.

A total of £5,100 has been paid in fines in the three months since the policy was re-started.

Hike

In April, 66 were issued, followed by 262 in May and 249 in June. The figures were revealed following a Freedom of Information request by the Express & Star. Parking charges at Walsall Manor were hiked by 40 per cent in October 2017.

A response to the Express & Star's request for information said: "We did not ticket people from June 2017 to April 2019. Re-commenced on April 10, 2019."

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A trust spokeswoman added: "We didn’t issue fines during this period due to staff issues and contract re-negotiating."

Councillor Rose Martin, head of adult social care at Walsall Council, said she was surprised to learn fines had been suspended.

She said: "I didn't know they had done it. Obviously they are taking money there so I am rather surprised they were not issuing fines.

"People really don't like paying for parking when they visit a hospital to see a loved one."

Council deputy leader Adrian Andrew said: "The issue of parking charges at hospitals is a hot topic but one thing people have to realise is car parks cost money to run.

"I would rather money for maintaining car parks comes from parking charges than NHS budgets."