Mum fined for donating blood in Milton Keynes

Carole Scott, whose blood type is one of the rarest in the country, donates a life-saving unit every 16 weeks at sessions held at Christ the Cornerstone Church.

All donors are given a NHS ticket so they can park for free close to the church in case they feel wobbly afterwards.

“I had the parking allowance notice in full view on my dashboard but came out to find I had a penalty charge notice,” said 41-year-old Carole.

“I called MK council only to be told by a woman who couldn’t seem to care less that I had to write in and officially appeal the ticket.

“It sent my blood pressure through the roof – just at a time I’m meant to be resting after donating blood.”

Carole saw at least one other blood donor’s car receive a similar ticket.

This was the mum-of-two’s 16th donor session. Her blood is B+Ro – a type possessed by only two per cent of the population. It is particularly valuable in treating people with Sickle Cell disease.

The Citizen complained to MK council on Carole’s behalf – and got the parking fine waived.

A spokesman said: “We’re sorry this blood donor has been given this penalty notice and we will be cancelling this – obviously we’re fully supportive of people giving blood and we wouldn’t want to do anything to discourage that.

“We usually receive notice of these events from the organiser. For whatever reason it didn’t happen on this occasion therefore any blood donors who received a parking ticket while they were giving blood, and can evidence this, will of course have it waived.”

NHS Blood and Transplant has put out a national appeal for 200,000 new donors this year.

To encourage more people, donors are now sent a text message when their blood goes to a hospital to save or improve patients’ lives.

Each unit of blood donated helps up to three patients.

People such as Carole with rare blood groups are in particular demand.

To find out more about giving blood or find out where sessions in MK are held view www.blood.co.uk