Father of 11-year-old girl 'disgusted' with police over disabled bay dispute

A child in Maidenhead has once again faced a threat to the disabled parking bay outside her home – this time as a result of police action.

Ella Cottrell, 11, has chronic health issues and has to wear leg braces following a course of chemotherapy that weakened her legs.

The family, in Hare Shoots, has a designated disabled parking bay to help meet her needs.

Two years ago, trouble brewed when RBWM’s community wardens called it ‘an offence’ to put traffic cones in the bay to deter other people from parking in it.

This clashed with what was said by the parking and enforcement team, and RBWM apologised and gave specific permission for the family to use the cone.

Then, a year later, the family faced another battle when a Sainsbury’s van kept parking in the spot.

This stopped Ella’s family from using it and caused problems with their necessary trips to and from hospital.

After a long battle for justice, this was eventually resolved and Sainsbury’s apologised.

But now the family faces more problems surrounding this same disabled parking bay, this time with Thames Valley Police.

Matt Cottrell, Ella’s father, was shocked when he was informed by RBWM’s parking team that the police wanted to have Ella’s disabled bay removed.

“I had an email that TVP Maidenhead [are] saying Ella doesn’t medically need it – and the bay is used for crime and anti-social behaviour,” he said.

“Have you ever heard of the police wanting to remove a disabled girl’s disabled bay? What crime can a disabled bay [cause]?”

Matt struggles to make sense of it, as various police officers have met Ella and have seen her in her leg braces, he said.

Ella’s parents sent documents in evidence of Ella’s ongoing disability to RBWM’s parking team, who replied that this was sufficient to prove the bay is still needed.

The parking and enforcement manager, Neil Walter, said ‘this was never about removing the bay’ but simply ‘gaining the evidence required to support it’.

He apologised for the distress, saying that if the police had not contacted them, ‘this would never have happened.’

The case is closed and the disabled bay is staying – but Matt is angered that this happened in the first place.

“RBWM know Ella is classed as extremely vulnerable as she was on the COVID shielding list,” he said.

“When Ella first got a disabled bay, we provided medical proof which RBWM should have on the system.”

But it is not RBWM who Matt is angry with, only the police.

“In this instance RBWM have done themselves credit, they have done the correct thing,” he said.

“It is Thames Valley Police that are disgusting and their actions are so wrong, shameful, and hateful towards a little girl.”

As such, Matt has launched a complaint to the Professional Standards Department of Thames Valley Police. He has also emailed TVP’s neighbourhood inspector for Maidenhead, Natasha Gidda, he said.

Matt does not know which officer(s) raised the concern about the disabled bay and he has sent a subject access request to find out.

Thames Valley Police has declined to comment to the Advertiser, saying it would be inappropriate for them to comment about an ongoing complaint.