A DISABLED man is furious after being given a ticket when he had no choice but to double park outside his home.

Blue badge owner Nigel Davis said people frequently parked in his designated disabled space overnight.

On the latest occasion, he double-parked next to the car in his space – and then found he had been issued with a parking ticket

Mr Davis, 71, of Hollingdean Terrace in Brighton, said it was the other car that was illegally parked.

He said: “I have chronic breathing problems and I have no choice but to park my car right outside my house in the disabled parking space.

“I cannot walk up and down this hilly street to get to my house.”

Mr Davis said he regularly drives home at about 11pm after picking up his girlfriend who works late at St John’s college for autistic children.

By the time he gets home, other cars are often parked illegally in his bay.

He said: “I am constantly in a Catch 22 situation.

“I am forced to double park next to them and the last time my car got damaged.

“I can barely walk the length of a tennis court so I need to be near my front door.”

Mr Davis said he has attempted to call the emergency parking service run by the city council but is always met with an answering machine.

He said: “They should have someone available to talk to at this time of night.

“They might as well not have this service. I should not be put in this position.”

He said of all the drivers who have parked in his space, only one has been given a ticket.

A council spokesman said: “Unfortunately we do not have the resources to support a 24-hour rapid response phone line. We aim to attend within one hour of receiving a complaint between 9am and 7pm.

“Outside of these hours we have an answer machine service. In this instance the complaint was made outside of these hours. The situation was attended to at 7.30am the following morning.

“When attending a complaint a civil enforcement officer will enforce all parking contraventions within the vicinity and issue penalty charge notices where appropriate.

“In this example both the vehicle in the disabled bay, and the vehicle double parked were issued with a penalty charge notice.”

He said the council has a team of officers who will take into account mitigating circumstances, such as a medical condition, that may have caused the vehicle to park in contravention.

In these instances he said a penalty charge notice would usually be cancelled.