A local authority has apologised for “incorrect” parking fines given to drivers who were unable to move their vehicles after last week’s railway crash near Bedford.
Train driver Shaun Burton died and more than 150 people were injured, including eight who were left in a critical condition, after a East Midlands Railway train hit the back of another on the same line in Elstow, near Bedford on Friday.
The crash resulted in the closure of the railway line, with stranded motorists unable to retrieve their vehicles parked in Bedford.
However, fixed penalty notices were given to some vehicles parked at a Bedford Borough Council-run car park adjacent to the station in Ashburnham Road.
The council has since apologised and said that “corrective action” will be taken on tickets issued.
One person who had been stuck on a train behind the crash posted a picture of X of his fixed penalty notice notice stuck to the windscreen of his red Mini Cooper at the car park.
Tagging Bedford Borough Council, he wrote: “Really? Why are you issuing parking tickets to cars at Bedford train station after yesterday’s major incident? Police were telling people NOT to go to the station! How were we suppose to collect our cars? Or extend parking?”
Were you issued with a fixed penalty ticket following the crash near Bedford last week? Email [email protected]
They added: “And to mention, I was stuck on the train behind the collision for three hours, evacuated onto the tracks then told to get home but I can’t collect my car! Got to the station this morning [Saturday] to find a ticket. Common sense and discretion seem to be missing here!”
On Monday, he said he had issued an appeal to the council.
The man’s social media post on the parking ticket stirred up anger from other users.
One person wrote: “The brilliant quality of the British state and its officials on display here.” Another said: “Utter jobsworths.”
The Independent has approached Bedford Borough Council for comment. In a statement issued to the Daily Mail, the local authority said: “We are aware of this matter and apologise for any incorrect tickets issued. The council has already taken corrective action regarding these tickets.
“Anybody who still needs to have a ticket rescinded can email [email protected].”
On Wednesday, investigators of the crash from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch issued an interim report that found Mr Burton’s train proceeded past a red signal before the collision.
It added it was not yet possible to say what alert the driver received from an onboard system designed to sound a horn when a red light is being approached, and activate the emergency brake if that is not acknowledged by them pressing a button.
Some 162 people were injured, 102 of whom needed hospital treatment. Fifty-three remain in hospital, including eight in a critical condition.
