A disabled Tooting resident has been slapped with a £50 parking fine outside St George’s Hospital despite the fact that he was inside receiving treatment for his prostate cancer.

On July 29, Bert Luthers, of Thrale Road, had parked on a single yellow line in Effort Street, opposite the hospital, and had correctly placed his blue disabled badge on his dashboard.

But when the 75-year-old returned, roughly four hours later, from an appointment to have a drip fitted and to have his platelets boosted with steroid injections, he had been given a ticket.

Mr Luthers, Tooting’s first black councillor, said: “It was quite a surprise to find a ticket on my car.

“It seems very unfair because there was no way I could leave my appointment and reset my badge.

“I seem to have had quite a few tickets over the last few months but I honestly believe they need to review the blue badge process because three hours is not enough. People with disabilities require longer than.

“I have to make quite a lot of trips to the hospital as I have a bad knee, prostate cancer and cataracts and there is rarely sufficient space to park. I think the time limit should be at least six hours.”

Blue badge official regulations state that badge holders may park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours in England and Wales, except where there is a ban on loading or unloading.

It also states that they may park for free and for as long as they need to at on-street parking meters and pay-and-display machines, unless there is a traffic sign specifying a time limit for holders of blue badges.

But Wandsworth Councill left the door open for Mr Luthers’ ticket to be reimbursed as long as he can prove he was at an appointment.

A council spokesman said: “If Mr Luthers is able to provide us with evidence from his doctor to show that he was unavoidably delayed at hospital then we would almost certainly cancel this ticket."

• Do you hold a blue badge? Have you had an unjust parking ticket? Let us know by email to jhenderson@london.newsquest.co.uk or leave your comments in the section below.