Worthing mum slams 'pointless' parking space for disabled son

Full-time carer Selina Ragless, from Worthing, described the space as hilariously small and right in front of the post, making it impossible to use.

Ms Ragless, 44, asked West Sussex County Council to paint the space for her son Harry, 12, who uses a wheelchair and needs help getting in and out of the family car.

She said she came home to find the space outside her house.

“Harry has Spina bifida and I wrote to the council requesting a disabled parking space," she said.

“He currently has a wheelchair, but Harry no longer walks, so he is getting a powered wheelchair.

“The car will need a ramp on the back of it for him to get in and out.

“We don't have a driveway, we don't have a garden so I requested the disabled bay.”

Ms Ragless' car just about fits in the bay, which she thinks was painted in between parked cars, ignoring the markings put down when the bay was measured.

If there was another vehicle parked on the driver side, she would not have room to exit her car.

“If I drove into that space and there was a car next to me, I wouldn’t be able to get out of my car," she said.

“If I reverse into the space, the ramp would have to go onto the garden behind it and also there’s a lamppost in the way.

“It would mean Harry would drive his wheelchair into the lamppost.

“It is pointless - I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Harry, 12, in the "pointless" disabled space (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

Ms Ragless was originally delighted when West Sussex County Council confirmed it would paint the road.

She said: "I didn't hear anything for a while and then I got an email to say we've marked up and it might take up to six weeks and I was like, fantastic, like it's happening, great!”

But when she saw the space she was baffled.

“I thought it was only suitable for a motorbike," she said.

“It’s not okay, is it really?

“I have put in a complaint.

“You can quite clearly see the markings of where it should have been.

“They could have come, seen that it was busy, or there was another car there, and contacted me, or even put a note there, or contacted the neighbours.

“Then they could’ve come back and done it at a suitable time.

Ms Ragless described the space as only suitable for a motorbike (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

She continued: “You can see the space is missing two lines where they obviously couldn't mark those parts because there's a car there.

“Anyone with a brain would have just left it and come back, rather than just bodge it and leave, which seems to be what they've done.

“It's hilarious.”

Harry went back to school today (September 3) and will need the car even more.

“He’s doing really well in school,” Ms Ragless said.

“He's got youth clubs and access to a social life.”

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said: “We are committed to supporting families and addressing the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and we are looking into this matter.”