Staff at Wycombe Hospital are being given parking fines for parking their cars in what they say are historically "legitimate" areas, the BFP has learnt.

A member of staff, who did not want to be named for fear of losing her job, said she has received parking fines in excess of £1,100 since 2011 despite paying £540 for a yearly permit and parking in designated double parking areas.

She has refused to pay the fines and is now facing legal action.

The staff member said during earlier discussions with Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust, bosses offered to reduce her fines to a total of £400 which she also refused to pay.

She said: “I think it’s wrong to charge us for parking when we have permits for the areas we are parking in. Most people who get these fines just ignore them.

“They have always historically been double parking areas so I do not know why I have been fined.”

Staff members are allowed to double-park in designated areas of the hospital as long as they display a valid parking permit and leave their contact details in the dashboard in case they are blocking a car in.

Notices were put up earlier this year to this effect.

Parking permits are issued by Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust and staff members have the monthly cost of the permit taken from their salaries every month, but parking is enforced by UKPC.

A Freedom of Information request by the member of staff and her husband found there were 590 staff parking spaces at the hospital and the number of parking permits issued by Bucks Healthcare Trust exceeded 3,100.

She added: “They should have more car parking spaces. Stoke Mandeville has a multi-storey car park but there is nothing like that at Wycombe Hospital.

“If they do not have enough parking spaces, they should not issue parking permits.”

In a statement, Bucks Healthcare Trust said: “As with any organisation in a large town centre, ensuring we provide parking for staff and hospital visitors is always a delicate balancing act.

“While there is provision for around 600 staff on-site parking places at Wycombe Hospital, we advise staff that a space cannot be guaranteed.

“As an alternative the Trust has arranged free access for staff to use the local park and ride facility to get to and from the site.

“We need to ensure that cars do not block access to buildings and roads for emergency vehicles and other users and ask that staff park within the clearly marked designated parking spaces to avoid receiving parking charge notices.

“We make every attempt to resolve parking issues, including through a formal appeals process.

“Legal action is the absolute last resort and only taken where it has been assessed that the charges are valid and when all other attempts at resolution have been exhausted.”

The Trust also said the 3,000-plus permits issued were across all Bucks hospitals and included permits for shift workers and temp staff.

The staff member said she is in ongoing discussions with Trust chief executive Neil Dardis to resolve the situation.