A day trip to Southend for a group of elderly and disabled Jewish social club members ended in disappointment when their driver received a parking ticket as they boarded the coach. A traffic warden fined the coach driver as he waited for around 15 members of the Golders Green-based New Faces Club, supporting the physically handicapped, to get into the vehicle.
“She just came along and told us to park somewhere else while we were all getting on the coach,” reported a spokesperson for the long-established social club.
“The coach couldn’t park any further away because a lot of our members are in wheelchairs. Others can’t walk far — even 50 yards is difficult for them.
“We were parked in a loading bay in front of the restaurant we were eating at. It was the only place to stop and we weren’t blocking the road at all.”
Despite protests from the group and passing members of the public, the driver was fined £70. A Southend Council representative said the fine had now been revoked “as a gesture of goodwill”.
But despite the gesture, the social club will not be visiting Southend again. “Not after that experience — we won’t be returning there. The warden showed no discretion or compassion.
“It’s was a very difficult, upsetting and uncomfortable end to a lovely day by the sea.”
