A Bermondsey woman said she was close to “a nervous breakdown” after receiving £400 worth of fines while taking communion to an elderly resident and visiting the hospital.
The 74-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, received the fines from Transport for London (TfL) after allegedly driving through a congestion charge zone on a number of occasions.
However she says she is permitted to drive through the zone since she has a disabled badge and an AD permit.
“I’ve had a total of about seven notices from TfL saying I owe them an awful lot of money,” she told the News.
“One of the notices said my car was in Great Dover Street but I wasn’t – I parked my car in Mandela Way and walked.
“I had been to church and I’m a Eucharistic minister and was taking communion to a senior citizen.
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“I had an operation in March of this year and regularly have to visit Guy’s and St Thomas’ and have to drive through the congestion zone.
“I have a badge and I’m permitted to drive into the congestion zone.”
The woman said the situation was “greatly affecting” her nerves.
“I feel as if I’m going to have a nervous breakdown; I could cry at the drop of a hat,” she said.
Transport for London said it had cancelled all of the charges after being approached by the News.
Paul Cowperthwaite, general manager of road user charging at TfL, said: “We have been in contact with [the woman] and cancelled all charges on her account and have extended her discount in order to ensure that she doesn’t receive any further penalty fares.
“These charges occurred after [she] hadn’t contacted us to apply for the appropriate discount.
“We recognise that this was a genuine error so are happy to cancel any charges.”