A PARKING company has stepped in to help a disabled man whose broken-down mobility scooter was ticketed by Kirklees Council.

Roy Mallinson – who has brain damage and difficulty walking – was travelling back to his Aspley home on February 26 when his scooter ground to halt only 200 yards from his front door.

When it was recovered a £30 parking ticket was found slapped on the windscreen because it was stopped in a residents-only zone.

But after seeing Mr Mallinson’s plight in the press a generous parking company has intervened to pay the fine and for the buggy’s expensive repairs.

Jim Whitehead, operations manager for UK CPS, who run about 200 private car parks in West Yorkshire, said they often donated cash to good causes to clear their consciences for all the tickets they were forced to issue.

Mr Whitehead and his sales manager Peter Worth visited Mr Mallinson’s home to hand over the £149 donation.

He said: “We saw this chap had been issued with a parking fine and we thought instead of him having to appeal we’d give him a donation to pay the £30 fine and £119 to help him get the scooter fixed.

“We try to donate a percentage of the money we collect to good causes.

“I do go through the papers, I’m always looking to see if there’s something that people need.

“I thought this was a little bit wrong and as it’s for a good cause then we were happy to help Mr Mallinson out.

“It’s not a nice industry. We’ve got a bad press, but we try to do our best.”

Mr Mallinson said he was delighted to receive the cheque.

He said: “I think it’s very very good of them.

“I can’t afford to pay that sort of money, I’m disabled.”

Mr Mallinson said he wasn’t sure what was happening with the fine but said he hadn’t appealed because he wasn’t able to write.

But a Kirklees Council spokeswoman said they were now processing an appeal on his behalf.

The council declined to comment on its policy of giving mobility scooters the same parking fines as cars.