HAT shop owner Joan Pressley is disgusted that a stop of just a few minutes to allow her to unload a box into her Devizes business has cost her a fine from Wiltshire Council.

Mrs Pressley, 82, who has run Joan Pressley hats in St John's Alley for 30 years and pays the council hundreds of pounds a year for a parking permit was shown no leniency by the council.

She accepts her car was parked in a disabled bay in St John's Street but said: "I left my hazard lights on and the keys in the ignition. It was obvious that I was going to be gone for a few minutes. I was shocked when I got back to find the ticket but I was even more shocked and upset when my appeal over the fine was turned down.

"I pay hundreds of pounds for a parking permit every year and there is no loading bay close to my shop. I am 82 and I had to carry a very large box to my shop. I would have thought it was obvious that I was only going to be a few minutes.

"I wouldn't normally park in a disabled bay but I didn't have much choice. If the warden had given me just a few minutes I would have been back but I was shown no leeway.

"I have had a business in Devizes for 30 years and bring a lot of custom to the town as the majority of my customers come from outside Devizes. Most of them spend money elsewhere in Devizes when they come to my shop.

"Parking in Devizes is getting worse and worse and you would have thought the council would want to support local small businesses."

She rang Wiltshire Council to complain and was told to write in and appeal. She said: "The person I spoke to on the phone was quite sympathetic and I was confident the ticket would be overturned. When I got the letter to say it had been upheld I was shocked.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Council said: "We have a duty to protect disabled parking bays from being wrongly used by people who do not have a blue badge, even if they are only used for a short period of time.

"The bay used on this occasion is not for loading and unloading purposes and a penalty charge notice was correctly issued.”