Fairer sex locked in

‘Elf ‘n’ safety madness!

Three ladies parked in the car park behind The Dunes amusement arcade in South Shields found themselves locked in just after 10:00pm despite having purchased the required parking ticket.

An enforcement officer working for APCOA, the contractor appointed by South Tyneside Council, kept the gates of the car park closed whilst he issued a £50 penalty notice, just because they were a few minutes late in returning to their vehicle!

A spokesman for APCOA, which manages and enforces off-street parking on behalf of South Tyneside Council, confirmed one of its civil enforcement officers (CEOs) arrived at the car park just after 10pm.

He said: “Signage at the car park states clearly that it will be closed at 10pm.

“The CEO found two cars in the car park which had overstayed their parking periods, so began to issue both of the vehicles with penalty charge notices (PCNs).

“The drivers of both vehicles arrived as he was issuing the PCNs and he duly informed them that, in line with procedure, when he had finished issuing the tickets, he would open the gates.

“At this point the CEO believed that his personal safety may have become compromised, and that he should leave the scene immediately, which he did.

“We are sorry that the drivers of the vehicles in question were upset by our CEO’s actions, but employee safety is paramount to us.”

Safety? Bloody Health and Safety? Scared of three ladies now is he? Have you ever heard such damned nonsense?

Methinks that the paramount importance was actually attached to collecting £50.00!

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