LIONEL and Delia Harwood’s trauma at hospital was made all the worse by a warden who was far too keen to issue a parking ticket.

When you take a loved one to A&E it is a very stressful time for all concerned.

You are full of dread and fears about what might be wrong so you could do without any other added worry.

But for the Harwoods this was not the case.

Their difficult time was made all the worse.

Thankfully the Royal Sussex County Hospital has apologised for the ordeal suffered by the couple.

All this could have been avoided, of course, if they had arrived by ambulance.

They told us how they were advised they would be better off and would get to hospital quicker if Mr Harwood drove his wife there himself. And he is an 80-year-old pensioner.

This is far from ideal. he would not have been in the best frame of mind for driving and they would both have benefited from a proper ambulance crew looking after them.

It is a sad indictment of the situation – that penny pinching has put the ambulance service at such a strain that patients are advised to make their own way to hospital.

And NHS trusts are so short of money that parking wardens prey on those arriving at A&E.

This sad story paints an awful picture of the reality we are faced with at the moment.

The Harwoods should not have been given a parking ticket because they should not have needed to make their own way to hospital in the first place.