The Lisa Smith Dudley nurse parking case has been dropped after media coverage and intervention by Dudley MP Sonia Kumar. Lisa Smith said the court sent back the hearing form and told her it was no longer required because the case had been discontinued.
Smith had been facing court action over a £266 parking charge notice after she was recorded in a parking bay for longer than 30 minutes while attending a seriously ill child in Birmingham. She said she was delayed after being trapped in a lift before treating the child, and that she was allowed 30 minutes free parking at the flats where she had been sent.
Lisa Smith and Sonia Kumar
Smith said she had provided evidence from the beginning, including why she was there and that she was stuck in a lift. She also said she did not notice the parking charge straight away because she was driving an NHS pool car, and she was later off work due to illness.
Sonia Kumar said in October that the lifts were broken and that Smith climbed five floors to reach her patient. “She climbed five floors to reach her patient. And for that, she is now facing court action, it’s not good enough.”
Civil Enforcement Ltd
Kumar wrote to Civil Enforcement Ltd asking for proceedings against her constituent to be halted. The case was then dropped after media coverage of the incident and her intervention, ending the immediate court action without a hearing.
Smith said she wanted an apology or an explanation for why the company pursued the case so vigorously, even after she had supplied evidence from the start. “I would advise anyone to stick up for themselves.”
