LGBT charity accuses Rotherham parking wardens of harassment

It said it had been issued 14 parking tickets at its main Rotherham town centre shop in the past three months — all of which had since been rescinded by the council.

LGBT Charity UK, which runs two shops on High Street, made a formal complaint after an argument over a ticket being issued last Thursday.

Charity founder Luke Conway said: “Our staff have been getting a lot of abuse and tickets before time has run out.

“It really kicked off last Thursday, when one of them said: ‘Your lot are not welcome around here.’

“We’d already had 14 tickets in about three months, and every one has been revoked. It’s mainly this one traffic warden.”

He added: “The van is plain but she knows it’s ours. Last Thursday, it happened at 9.51am. We can load and unload up to 10am. We always move it before then.

“Our area manager was there. She turned around and lost it a bit as well because of what was said, I’m not going to lie.

“But to be told ‘your lot aren’t welcome around here’ is disgraceful. It’s exactly what we are trying to fight and stand up against.

“It’s worked well, mostly, so far. We’ve got the bigger premises with a cafe.

“We don’t want to lose faith in the council because we’ve worked well together so far. It just seems to be this one person.”

Tom Smith, RMBC assistant director for community safety and streetscene, said: “We take allegations like this extremely seriously.

“Parking is allowed on the pedestrian area outside the shop before 10am and after 4pm to allow for short-term loading and unloading only.

“We have reviewed the bodycam footage and found no evidence to support the claims made.”