A DAUGHTER has been “brought to tears” with frustration over a parking fine she was issued while dropping off her terminally-ill mother at Barnet Hospital.

ParkingEye, who run the hospital car park, issued a £100 Parking Charge Notice (PCN) to Rochelle Collins, of High Barnet, for leaving her car in a drop off-only area longer than the allowed 20 minutes.

But Mrs Collins insisted she dropped off her mother Xena Kanner, a pensioner living in Cockfosters has cancer, in the zone at the hospital entrance before driving off to find a parking space.

As part of her appeal, she has presented the blue badge registered to the hospital which allow her to park anywhere for free when she brings her mother for treatment.

Mrs Collins, a freelance social worker, said: “It is incredibly distressing trying to park up in Barnet Hospital. You can spend hours going round and round just to find a space.

“There was nothing stopping me from parking where I parked, in fact several other cars were also parked there.

“I don’t need this kind of pressure with everything my family has to worry about at the moment.

“I just want to speak out because people more vulnerable than me might not feel able to put their foot down and will just pay these unreasonable charges.”

Her appeals through the independent parking authority POPLA have been unsuccessful as they say there is sufficient camera evidence to justify the fine.

The evidence shows Mrs Collins driving down a lane towards the hospital entrance, then driving out one hour and 40 minutes later.

ParkingEye concluded from this evidence she could not have left the drop off area, though there is no photo evidence of her car residing in the area.

They insist there is nowhere else she could park as there are barriers all around, but she said she managed to access a parking area easily without going back up the lane.

A ParkingEye spokesperson said: “There are multiple signs informing drivers that there is a maximum stay of 20 minutes in the drop-off zone at Barnet Hospital.

“ParkingEye is a member of the British Parking Association and follows its code of practice with respect to signage.

“If a driver disagrees with our decision, they have the option to appeal to the independent appeals service.

“In this case the driver did appeal to POPLA, who upheld our original decision.”