Charity volunteers have slammed the council after being repeatedly hit with parking fines while serving breakfast to the homeless. Kim Law says herself and other volunteers have received around 'half a dozen' penalty notices between them over the last year for leaving their cars in a loading bay on Oldham Street in the Manchester city centre.
It is one of only a few spots where cars can be left near Mosiac Cafe, where workers serve breakfast for those in need with homeless charity Lifeshare. The group have tried to leave letters on their windscreens explaining the situation - but constantly come back to find parking charge notices issued, Manchester Evening News reports.
In response, Manchester City Council insists that the 'volunteers are not exempt from the parking enforcement rules'. Lifeshare works in partnership with the council to provide an indoors weekend breakfast service for those sleeping rough in the city.
Kim says she arrives at the loading bay at roughly 5am every Sunday morning, while she and other volunteers carry heavy trays of food and utensils from their cars to Mosaic Cafe on Dale Street.
"We cook a lovely hot breakfast for increasingly more and more people, and open our doors at 7am on Sunday mornings," she says. "We park in the loading bay around the corner because our cars are always full of so much stuff - clothes and food. So we couldn't park anywhere else other than just around the corner."
Kim says she has become more and more angry as volunteers continue to return to their cars at around 9am to see they have been fined - despite letters explaining the parking attached to the windscreens.
"We're helping the vulnerable people in our society - and it's still dead at that time in the morning, there is nobody about," she explained. "I had 250 tins of beans in my boot the day I got one of the tickets. It's not about paying for it, I can well afford to pay the ticket. It's the principle of it.
"Lifeshare offered to pay the ticket, and I said no because I don't think it is right for a charity to be paying a ticket to Manchester City Council. It just doesn't seem right that we're in this situation. It's disgusting."
Kim, who has been volunteering at Lifeshare for a decade, said herself and other volunteers park 'safely' and don't feel their vehicles cause any 'obstruction'.
A Manchester City Council spokesperson said: "Lifeshare is a key partner in the Manchester Homelessness Partnership providing a valued weekend breakfast indoors for people who are sleeping on the streets and their volunteers are essential for the delivery of this service.
"We welcome the work that the volunteers do, and we support organisations where we can, but volunteers are not exempt from the parking enforcement rules. Pay and display bays can be used for free up until 8 am at the weekends but are subject to parking charges after that time, which everyone has to comply with."
Lifeshare declined to comment when approached by the Manchester Evening News.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
