A WHEELCHAIR user has welcomed the disabled parking charges at East Lancashire hospitals as ‘another step towards equality’.

Lynn Lancaster, a retired headteacher from Simonstone, has said there isn’t a reason for everyone who is allowed to use disabled spaces to not pay.

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A report revealed that disabled badge holders would not be able to reclaim their fees when they park in general spaces at East Lancashire hospitals Changes have also seen car parking fees being charged at Accrington Victoria, Clitheroe Community Hospital and Pendle Community Hospital.

The former Lowerhouse Junior School headteacher has used a wheelchair for eight years after suffering from serious mobility issues following hip surgery.

The 67-year-old, uses disabled spaces regularly and is cared for by her husband John, 66.

Mrs Lancaster said: “Disabled car parking spaces are there to provide people with more space for entering and exiting their car when mobility is an issue.

“It’s not to give people a free hand when they are perfectly capable of paying for it like everyone else.

“I have often felt that people have looked at me, seen the wheelchair and just dismissed me when I’m just like everybody else.

“It’s another step towards equality, it’s good that disabled people are being looked at as the same as able people.”

The charges were branded as a tax on the sick by East Lancashire MPs when they were announced earlier this month.

A former midwife who spent 40 years working in East Lancashire hospitals, Gladys Sandiford, said: “I can see a reason for introducing the charges.

“Disabled people get the spaces for access and space, not for the free usage.

“I used them with my husband and we always thought we should have paid.

“It does however mean it’s another stress for people to worry about.”