WILTON pensioner Elizabeth McIntosh has slammed Salisbury district council for refusing to waive a parking ticket sent to a young woman who was booked while she was helping Mrs McIntosh after she fell down.

Mrs McIntosh, who is 84 and lives in Saddlers Mead, Wilton, is furious that Dominique Sampson has been told by the council she will have to appeal against a parking fine levied on her for stopping her car on the side of North Street, in Wilton, while she rushed to help Mrs McIntosh.

Miss Sampson was told by council officials that they could not waive the charge because there was no "documentary evidence" and that she should appeal to an independent adjudicator.

Mrs McIntosh contacted the Journal following last week's story about Miss Sampson's booking by a traffic ambassador.

She said: "I mean to take this further. I think it is time someone made an issue of this it is quite terrible and is simply not fair.

"I am disabled and I fell down as I was leaving a shop.

"This kind lady came to my aid and made sure I was alright. To return to her car to find a parking ticket is beyond belief."

Mrs McIntosh, who is about to go into hospital for an operation, has been trying to contact Miss Sampson to thank her.

She said she had left a message on Miss Sampson's answerphone.

She said: "I intend taking this matter up with the council.

"After the lady left me, a gentleman called Alan Best helped me, so he can verify what happened."

Miss Sampson, who lives in Stratford Tony and is a care-worker for the elderly, said she would definitely be appealing against the parking fine.

But she said she was angry that she had to go to all the expense and trouble of making the appeal, when the ambassador concerned could tell the council what had happened.

She said: "The ambassador told me he could not cancel the document because he had already written it out but, in view of the circumstances, he advised me to contact the council, and he felt sure they would waive it."

When Miss Sampson did contact the council, she was told that it would not waive the charge.

On Monday a council spokeswoman said they had received a letter from Mrs McIntosh.

In a statement the council said: "We will be considering her correspondence in detail. However, we still face potential conflicting evidence as our parking ambassador's account of what happened would appear to differ with Miss Sampson's account.

"We have reviewed CCTV footage of what happened that day and we will review it again in light of this new evidence. If we find there is evidence to support Miss Sampson's account we will of course happily waive her ticket. But if it appears there is still contradictory evidence we feel it would be best for the National Parking adjudicator to take an independent view of what happened."