Opera singer slams 'money-grabbing' council over parking ticket issued while she gave birth

 
Happy day: Catherine Hopper with new born baby Joseph
Ellen Widdup27 May 2014

An opera singer has slammed a “money-grabbing” council for refusing to cancel a parking ticket issued while she was giving birth.

Catherine Hopper, 34, from Hampstead, north London was rushed to hospital by ambulance when she suddenly went into labour with her second child.

Her musician husband Sam Evans, 34, was forced to leave his car on a single yellow line outside their flat when he returned from dropping off the couple’s two-year-old son Tom at his grandparents and found his wife going into labour.

Ms Hopper was taken to University College Hospital by paramedics at around 2.30am on April 11 where little Joseph was safely delivered an hour later.

The couple knew they faced a parking ticket for leaving their Volvo on a yellow line but were confident the car was not causing a traffic obstruction and that wardens at Camden Council would understand the predicament they had been in.

But in a letter rejecting their appeal, officials told them that despite taking the mitigating circumstances into consideration, they could not wave the £65 fine.

Mezzo soprano Ms Hopper, who graduated from graduated Royal Academy Opera with a distinction, said she was furious at the council’s “outrageous attitude”.

“Are they really suggesting I should have put their parking regulations ahead of the safety of my baby? There is never anywhere to park on our road and he had a choice of 500 yards down the road, which he knew I would not have managed, or right outside. He thought he was just going to get me into the car and get going but when he got upstairs he found me in a terrible state.

“I started bleeding. I thought I was about to deliver the baby right then and there. Sam called an ambulance because he could see we were not going to make it,” she said.

Following the birth, the singer wrote a letter to the council explaining why the car had been left, hoping the fine would be cancelled.

But in an email from parking services customer support department she was told: “I understand from your letter you are contesting the PCN because you went into labour, but have decided to enforce the Notice.

“The vehicle was parked on a double yellow line, which signifies no waiting at any time.”

He added that she must pay her £65 fine within 14 days or it would rise to £130.

Ms Hopper, who has given recitals at the Cheltenham Music Festival and performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, said: “To not see fit to waive a parking fine for a woman who is bleeding on the pavement and needs to get to hospital is just cruel.

Bullying council officials need to have a heart.”

A spokesman for Camden Council said: “We have a fair and proportionate approach to parking enforcement. We therefore consider each appeal on its own merit, and will naturally take into account exceptional circumstances.

“Unfortunately at this stage we do not have enough evidence to cancel the PCN following an appeal, but if the appropriate supporting evidence such as a birth certificate is supplied as requested then we are more than happy to review again and reconsider.”

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