A DEGANWY man has hit out at workmen who parked in the disabled bays of a busy station.
Les Pierce, 56, drove to Llandudno Junction station last week to pick up his daughter when he was shocked to find two vans from maintenance company Integral taking up limited disabled spaces.
He said: "There are only four disabled bays there. As I entered the carpark from the road there were lots of empty spaces, but there were two vans in the specially designated spaces.
"Luckily I found a space, so I went over just in case they had a blue badge, but they just had a note saying they were working for Arriva and one had a permit. I was so frustrated."
Mr Pierce, who suffers from arthritis, contacted both Integral and Arriva Trains, but heard nothing back from either company.
He said: "The problem for me is I need the space. I need to open the doors fully to get my legs in and out. I'm quite used to people parking in disabled spaces, but to have two vans in there is just wrong. There were staff spaces which were empty which could have been used.
"For me it's the principle. Even if they had a lot of tools they could have parked close and then moved the vans."
Malcolm Grace, branch manager for Integral in Llandudno, confirmed the workers should not have been parking there, and action would be taken.
He said: "[Integral] do the street lights and the fences at the station so on occasion we could end up blocking the disabled bays. From that photo they are obviously not.
"We don't condone parking in disabled bays - I have a blue badge myself. They won't be parking in disabled bays anymore - they will be getting a letter instructing them not to do so. All I can do is apologise and confirm it will be handled."
Arriva Trains Wales also expressed their apologies for any distress caused to visitors wanting to use the disabled bays at that time.
A spokesman for the company said: "Disabled parking bays are for use by disabled passengers only. The contractors were at Llandudno Junction station to carry out repairs to lighting equipment and were eager to complete the work quickly to minimise inconvenience to passengers. However, they should have parked their vehicles in the appropriate parking bays.
"It is not our policy to allow contractors to use disabled parking bays at any of our stations without prior permission and the contractor concerned has been reminded of this policy.
"We are always mindful of the needs of disabled passenger and apologise for anyone who couldn't use the bays when the contractors were on site."