By Tom Reeves and Katie May Nelson

A man who was told to leave his job to self-isolate after coming down with coronavirus symptoms says he has repeatedly been given parking tickets for parking outside his own house.

Peter Pratt from Chatham was told to go home on March 17 after he felt ill.

Upon his doctor's advice, the Ordnance Terrace resident began a self-isolation period of 14 days after he developed a sore throat and bad chest.

Peter, who works as a portable appliance tester, has been buying Medway Council visitor parking permits while he waits to get a residents' permit.

However as he was unable to go to Chatham Library to purchase the permits while he remained inside, he placed notes explaining his situation in his two cars; one for work and his personal vehicle.

The following day, a traffic warden slapped a parking ticket on his car and Peter pleaded with them through his window, only to be ignored.

The 40-year-old said: "My cars are right out the front of my bedroom window.

"I have been trying to keep an eye on it. On the first day, I saw a traffic warden put one on my car, I tried to explain through my window that I’m in self-isolation, and they just said ‘Oh well, we don’t care. We are just here to do our jobs.'

"I can appreciate that. Then, I tried to phone around the council - the department for enforcement, the parking department and even the payment department - they just gave me the run around and said ‘Oh well, you should have someone who can do this for you.'

"Well, I’m 40, my parents are in their 70s, my sisters all work, all my friends work and I have to make time during the day, in between jobs, to go and get them myself."

After six days, Peter received four tickets - two on each car - totalling £200. On Saturday, he received his residents' parking permit for his personal car, but is still awaiting one for his work car.

Having been passed between people at the council, he says he has also been in touch with his ward councillor to try to resolve the issue.

He added: "Obviously, they are taking photos for their evidence which will show that neither of my cars have moved since Tuesday.

"The notes are in the exact same place and they are taking pictures of everything.

"But they are just unwilling to actually discuss it with anyone. I couldn’t even go out there, get them, and start the appeals process to say I'm locked down because I’m not meant to be going out of the house."

As of Tuesday, Peter was able to leave his house and collect the tickets and start the appeals process.

He is worried about the financial strain the tickets will cause him as he is now on statutory sick pay for the time he has been off and has been told he will be on 80% of his salary for the next three months.

Louise Browne, acting head of Highways and Parking at Medway Council, said: “We understand that due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) there may be less parking available on Medway’s residential roads as more people are at home with their vehicles.

"However, it is essential that we maintain safe roads and pavements for pedestrians and other motorists.

"We will be now concentrating our parking enforcement on vehicles which are parked in a dangerous or inconsiderate manner.”

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