A doctor slapped with a parking fine as he gave emergency psychiatric care has finally seen the ticket torn up – more than a year after it was issued.

Dr Harvey Gordon was called to Haydons Road on August 12, 2010, along with police and ambulance crews, to assess a man with serious mental health problems who was being taken into care for his own safety.

The Surrey-based GP parked in a resident’s space as no public parking was available, but left a note and British Medical Association badge on his windscreen.

When he found he had been ticketed by Merton Council he appealed, but was told to pay up.

An independent parking adjudicator said while the ticket was not illegal there were “compelling reasons” for the council to cancel it, but the authority refused.

They told the doctor he needed a Merton-specific license to use residents’ bays – although he said as he was rarely called to the borough he did not know this, and the system was at odds with other areas he worked in.

Dr Gordon, from Long Ditton, paid the £100 fine but continued to fight for a refund – and in August a parking officer sent him a letter saying one would be granted after a social worker confirmed the incident had taken place.

Paul Walshe, the council’s parking services manager, said the fine had not been withdrawn earlier because the council needed “audit defensible proof” the doctor had genuinely needed to break parking rules. The cash was finally returned on September 23.

Dr Gordon said: “The excuse they gave is laughable – I gave them all the proof they needed.”

He said the delay in issuing the refund was ridiculous and added: “If I hadn’t kept mithering them I would probably never have got it.”

The council declined to comment on the story.

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