A ROLLS-ROYCE engineer was handed a parking ticket despite her vehicle being stuck behind a police cordon during a chemical leak in Derby.
Gina Coventry had just left choir practice with the Sitwell Singers at St John's Church when she saw the cordon in place.
She said she asked officers to put a "police aware" sticker on her car, which was parked in Mill Street behind the police tape, knowing she would not be able to collect it until the next day when parking charges applied.
But when she returned the following day, she found the parking ticket on the windscreen.
She appealed to Derby City Council, which issued the £50 ticket, but it refused to budge, saying she should have arrived before charges applied to collect her car.
Now, after the 37-year-old contacted the Derby Telegraph, the council has agreed to waive the charges.
Miss Coventry, of Stenson Road, Derby, said: "This was a one-off occurrence and I left me utterly frustrated at the council's attitude towards what happened.
"This was a chemical leak that saw hundreds of people evacuated and a cordon put in place for hours and my car was behind that cordon.
"I could hardly have slipped under it, got in the car and driven off bearing in mind the serious situation that was happening.
"But the council wouldn't budge and I was left looking at having to pay it and get on with things.
"It was my 37th birthday last week.
"Some present the council handed to me."
Miss Coventry said she was surprised but delighted that the council had agreed to waive the fine.
She said: "I am relieved that the fine has been cancelled but it actually means as much to me that they have admitted the unfairness of their initial decision."
Police and the bomb squad were called to the leak on the evening of September 22 after a factory accidentally mixed a potentially explosive cocktail of chemicals.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from nearby streets, including students who had only moved into their halls of residence just hours before.
Mill Street, Bridge Street and Nuns Street were evacuated and police worked through the night to find alternative accommodation for students from Nunnery Court and Princess Alice Court halls of residence.
Miss Coventry, who works at Rolls-Royce's Moor Lane site, said a doctor's appointment and work commitments meant she was unable to collect her Toyota car until the afternoon of September 23 following the evacuations.
She said: "The ticket was on there so I wrote to the council appealing it and received what I felt was a snotty reply from them.
"In it they refused to accept this was an exceptional case and so I had no option but to pay up.
"I was unable to collect the car first thing due to a doctor's appointment and work commitments.
"The council have said even if the police had put a 'police aware' sticker on the car it would have held no standing with them and they would still have issued the fine.
"I just find this extraordinarily unfair given this was a unique situation."
A spokesman for Derby City Council, in response, said: "Miss Coventry's challenge was initially rejected as it was considered that she had sufficient time to collect her vehicle once the police had removed the cordon.
"However, on reflection, Derby City Council agrees that this was something of a unique situation and she was placed in a difficult position with regard to recovering her vehicle.
"This was outside of her control and consequently the council has arranged for the penalty charge notice to be cancelled."
