A grieving family was left stunned after a parking firm demanded £150 to release a car belonging to a man who died while in hospital. Sue Mountford's ex-husband, Jimmy Neal, 73, drove himself to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro with a lung complaint, but his condition worsened and he died ten days later.
The parking charges had accumulated to £12 during his stay, but the firm, Q-Park, initially refused to release the Vauxhall Corsa unless the full amount was paid. A friend who went to collect the car was told by an attendant that the vehicle could not be taken without settling the bill.
Ms Mountford, from St Austell, Cornwall, said the stress added to her family's grief. 'How they can justify charging a dead man for parking at a hospital is beyond me,' she said. The family's landlord, Andrew Dean, shared the story on Facebook, where it was shared 7,000 times, prompting Q-Park to reverse its decision.
A Q-Park spokesman said the firm has a policy not to release vehicles without the owner's permission except in exceptional circumstances, and that they would never charge for a deceased person's car. The Royal Cornwall Hospital said it had never encountered a similar situation before.
