A firefighter who gave blood plasma to help recovering Covid patients landed a parking fine after his appointment took longer than he expected.

Dad Steve Harvey, who contracted the virus in early January, offered to donate after testing positive with the virus in January.

Steve, an ex-policeman, made the 80-mile round trip from his home in Grain to a testing centre in Ashford.

As a regular blood donor he estimated it would take about half an hour, so got a ticket for an hour at an Ashford Borough Council-run car park.

But the process was more complicated than he anticipated and he overran his stay at the Vicarage Lane car park by more than an hour.

He dashed out to his car where a parking attendant was giving him a ticket. When he explained the circumstances the warden said while he sympathised, he had already registered his details into the system.

Mr Harvey said: "He was very apologetic and said he would write a note explaining what had happened in his paperwork."

He appealed against the fixed penalty notice, explaining that he had been given permission to travel to the testing venue on Monday March 8 at the County Square shopping centre by the NHS donor department.

But his plea was rejected because it was a "pre-arranged and therefore non-urgent visit".

In a letter from the parking highways and transportation department, it said it was the driver's responsibility to "arrive back to the vehicle before the purchased parking time had expired".

"Whilst we sympathise with the situation described in your challenge it is the driver's responsibility to obey parking rules.

Mr Harvey, said: "I thought I was doing the right thing, helping to save lives. I have been a blood donor since I was 18, but the process of giving plasma was not as straightforward as I had thought.

"Once I was giving the plasma I could not just leave and put another ticket on my car. It's not as if I had gone shopping and forgot the time or got lost. I couldn't physically get back any earlier."

Mr Harvey, who works for the London Fire Brigade and helps out with Kent Fire and Rescue Service as well as the ambulance service during the pandemic, has since paid the £25 penalty.

Mr Harvey, who also served in the police force in London for seven years said: "I could have taken it further and gone to court. But I know how long that can take.

"It's not about the money, it's the principle."

Mr Harvey, who lives with fiancee Jane Sharp, 53, added that he understood the need for parking enforcement, but felt "a little compassion" could have been exercised in this case.

A council spokesman said: “When issuing Penalty Charge Notices and considering appeals we have to take a fair and consistent approach and the PCN was issued correctly in this case. Drivers must ensure they make arrangements if they need to extend their parking time but we do offer RingGo as a flexible option whereby drivers can extend their parking time without the need to return to their car.”

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