Even dying couldn’t get supermarket customer out of £35 parking fine

A customer cheated death after collapsing outside a supermarket – but not the fine imposed for leaving her car there while she was brought back to life.

The 54-year-old fell ill in the car park of the New World supermarket in Orewa, Auckland, New Zealand, on July 26.

Other shoppers weny to try and help, including a ‘truly remarkable’ witness who performed chest compressions when they could no longer find a pulse.

The woman’s father said paramedics later told them her heart had stopped and ‘momentarily, she was technically dead’.

Within days of getting a second chance at life, the woman received an $80 (£35) fine for leaving her car outside the supermarket.

Customers are allowed to stay for up to an hour and a half, but her car was not moved for nearly six hours after she was taken to North Shore Hospital.

The penalty charge from Smart Compliance Management stated: ‘Customers are entitled to 90 minutes of parking. Your vehicle was parked for 341 minutes.’

She appealed the fine – quite understandably, you might think – but the company declined to withdraw it, instead reducing it to $30 (£13) given the ‘circumstances’.

Speaking to Stuff, the woman’s father said the family was outraged by the ‘offensive’ penalty.

Staff at New World later paid the money into the woman’s account to cover it.

Owner-operator Steve McClean told the outlet: ‘This was a deeply distressing situation for the customer and their family, and I’m sorry this caused them additional stress and inconvenience.’

A spokesperson for Smart Compliance apologised for the ‘additional stress caused to this individual following their medical emergency’.

They added their initial response did not ‘appropriately take into account the circumstances of the case’.

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