A DOCTOR was given a parking ticket while tending to an elderly patient in an emergency call-out.

Dr Ewan Bumpstead, 33, from Miersfield, High Wycombe, is fuming after he was landed with the ticket within three minutes of parking his car in Booker Lane.

The doctor, who spends some of his time at the Tower House Surgery, in West Wycombe Road, could not find a space to park when he was making a house call to a patient who was bed-ridden.

When he returned to his car he found the ticket with a fine for £30.

He said: "I think it is very unfair. This was a special circumstance. When I saw it I thought I would write to them to explain and it would be ok, but I was told I would have to pay anyway."

He claimed there was nowhere else to park in the street and was in a rush to get to this patient as he had another house call to make afterwards.

He said: "I would never park on a yellow line unless it was an emergency. It doesn't show the council in a very caring light when there are people who cannot get to their surgery."

Permits are available for doctors that allow them to park in residents' bays, but even a permit does not allow them to park on yellow lines. Anne-Marie Goodbody, from parking services at Buckinghamshire County Council, said exceptions could be made for some circumstances and said every case is reviewed individually.

"If Dr Bumpstead is unhappy with the decision then he is welcome to appeal and he can submit any new evidence for us to inspect," she said.

"He was completely blocking the footpath. Anybody who wanted to use the path would have to walk in the mud to get around. We cannot have this situation.

"Looking at the photos we have I would say there were several places he could have parked."