POLICE have been accused of taking a “do as I say, not as I do” attitude after a police van was snapped parking in what appears to be a disabled space.
The photo of the van in a supermarket car park, has appeared on a Facebook page set up to highlight bad parking in the Edinburgh area.
It was uploaded on Tuesday afternoon after being taken outside the Asda store in Straiton, Midlothian, and shows a police van parked right outside the entrance to the shop with a disabled sign clearly visible in the picture.
It is unclear if the police were there in response to an emergency or if they had popped in to buy something from the store.
A Police Scotland spokesman confirmed they have so far not been able to find any record of their vehicles being at the store on official business at that time.
The large car park has well-over 100 spaces and Google reviews of the store cite “plenty of parking” as one of its’ positive features.
A spokesman for Scotland’s Worst Drivers, a website dedicated to driving mistakes in Scotland said: “The police should be setting an example.
“If this was a blue light run then we can assume they had no option to stop here; however if this was not a blue light run, then the excuses can run pretty thin – do as I say not as I do.
“It is hard enough for disabled people to shop, and if able bodied people take up these spaces, it makes it even harder.”
Drivers in Scotland face a £60 fine for parking illegally in a disabled bay after legislation was introduced in 2009.
Previously, it was not against the law, with 85% of disabled bays in the country being ‘advisory’ spaces.
Police officers are allowed to ignore parking restrictions if they are forced to use a space for operational purposes.
