A DISABLED widower, whose life was blighted by the tragic death of his wife, claims parking inspectors at York Hospital became abusive after wrongly ticketing his car.

Pensioner Anthony Pierson, 77, who suffers from a twisted spine and walks with a stick, said he was appalled by the way hospital ticket inspectors treated him.

Mr Pierson, of Seymour Grove, off Stockton Lane, said parking attendants ticketed his car when it was parked in what he believed was a disabled bay, and then became abusive when he challenged them.

His wife, Maria, 71, who suffered from dementia, was tragically killed after being knocked down on the A64 at the Fulford interchange near York only hours after being reported missing on Christmas Eve 2000.

Mr Pierson said he had left her with their black Labrador dog only briefly to go into a shop in Goodramgate and when he came back out they were nowhere to be seen.

They were reported missing and a large-scale search was launched by police.

The dog, which had slipped its lead, was later found wandering exhausted in the Scarcroft Road area.

"It's been really hard living without her. We did everything together and coming to terms with her death was hard," said Mr Pierson.

The retired British Telecom worker said he went to the hospital last week and toured round the car park three times trying to find a space.

On the fourth time round, he saw a woman pulling out of a space he thought was for disabled badge holders, and, conscious the time for his appointment was drawing near, he parked up.

He returned 35 minutes later to find a ticket on his windscreen.

He said: "I can't walk any distance and I couldn't wait any longer, but when I came out I'd got a £25 ticket.

"I was so angry, I struggled back to the reception and they told me to go down to an office at the end of the car park. By the time I got down there I was absolutely exhausted. I explained to the young lad that I couldn't get parked and I have a blue disabled badge which was displayed.

"Even though he could see the state I was in and the difficulty I had walking he just laughed at me. It made me so mad."

Mr Pierson said he now intended to appeal against the ticket.

This is the second time in as many months the Press has reported complaints from disabled patients over parking at York Hospital.

On April 4, David Rose said he was left with no choice but to park on yellow lines, because all the bays for disabled motorists were occupied.

He said he notified hospital staff, but was given a £25 fine by a car-park attendant from First Management Group, whom he accused of an unsympathetic and poor attitude.

Danny Morgan, director of facilities for York Hospital, said: "Our parking attendants do come in for a lot of abuse from members of the public, but I am disappointed and sorry if they were rude on this occasion.

Mr Pierson is right to go through our appeals process, and if he contacts me I will try to get to the bottom of it."

Updated: 09:27 Wednesday, May 03, 2006