Gentle folk of Lincolnshire, I bring you a tale of absurdity from your neighbouring county in the east, Nottinghamshire. Home of the famous Robin Hood but in the tale I have to tell the spirit of the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham comes to the fore.
The Trust has been a supporter of our troops who have served in Iraq and latterly Afghanistan through Help for Heroes. Conflicts which have touched all large communities in the two counties, so imagine our horror to hear of a young man from Coddington, which borders onto the Lincolnshire parish of Stapleford, and his harsh treatment by the Nottinghamshire county authorities.
Lance corporal Johno Lee has served two deployments in Iraq and was deployed to Afghanistan when he was caught in an explosion. The result was that he has lost his right leg above the knee and has been fitted with a prosthetic leg. That isn’t the end of his problems because on some occasions when he parks in Newark he can’t fit his leg because of swellings and has to use his wheelchair. To do that he has had to park in odd places to use his wheelchair and as a result has been issued with parking fines - £800 worth, of which, to be fair, Newark and Sherwood District Council have rescinded some of them.
So Johno applied to Nottinghamshire County Council for a Blue Badge (this allows easier parking arrangements for disabled people).
The reaction?
Wait for it….
He was advised he was young and his condition may get better??
You can’t believe it can you? Johno comment is that if he lives to 80 his leg won’t grow back.
This story was first in the Newark Advertiser and is now in most national Daily’s.
Roy Noble
