A family who received eight parking tickets while at their dying relative’s bedside are being chased by debt collectors - despite being told their fines had been overturned.

Rosaleen Harris died on Christmas Day at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary , aged 65.

Her daughters, who were at her bedside with her husband Frederick, were given a special swan card to display in their car windows, alerting parking attendants at the hospital to the fact they had a loved one receiving end of life care.

But Teresa Davidson and Sarah Fleming were horrified that, despite clearly displaying the badge, they kept being issued with parking tickets by UK Parking Control, the firm that now polices the infirmary care park.

After contacting the News & Star, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust apologised and overturned the fines - which together added up to hundreds of pounds. Yet despite this, the family have continued to receive demands.

Still coming to terms with Mrs Harris’ death, the family say the debacle has added considerable stress and now they are being chased by debt collectors.

Mrs Davidson said that following the story in the News & Star in January, they received a letter from UKPC confirming the charges had been cancelled.

But in the past week they have received four demands from Debt Recovery Plus, in which they say they are acting on behalf of UKPC , each for £130.

Mrs Davidson said the letters went to her 80-year-old dad’s address.

“This has caused us so much stress. My dad is so worried he just wanted to pay it, even though we don’t owe it, in case debt collectors turn up on his doorstep,” she said.

“We shouldn’t have got the tickets in the first place, then we had all the stress after Christmas. Now we’re getting final demands. It’s been awful. It’s been going on for almost three months now. It’s the last thing my dad needs.”

After highlighting the latest demands, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed to the News & Star there will be no further letters. She said they had spoken to UKPC , who have now contacted Debt Recovery Plus to resolve the matter.

In January, the sisters said the parking fines had overshadowed a time when they should have been focused on their last moments with their mum.


Rosaleen Harris Mrs Harris had been successfully battling cancer for about two years but took ill just before Christmas and was rushed to hospital with pneumonia.

They rushed to her bedside, where they received the devastating news that she was at the end of her life.

However they stressed that, despite the parking row, the care she received at the infirmary was second to none. They said staff on Beech A were fantastic and supported them throughout their battle with the parking attendants.

UKPC were brought in last year to manage the car parks at the Cumberland infirmary, and later the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

There have since been a number of complaints about the tough new stance being taken by the wardens patrolling the hospital car parks.

The trust has stressed the new parking rules were introduced for safety reasons, to stop long-running problems that meant cars were regularly left blocking emergency routes.

But it said it was now working with Interserve, which manages the hospital site, and UKPC to see how these situations could be avoided in future.