Council apologises after Mayor's car blocks disabled parking bay at Morecambe Town Hall

The two photos show the Mayor of Lancaster’s vehicle parked outside Morecambe Town Hall during a meeting of Morecambe Town Council. Coun Roger Dennison is the current Mayor and a Lancaster city councillor, as well as a member of the town council representing Bare South East Ward for the Morecambe Bay Independents.

A frustrated member of the public sent us the pictures which clearly show the car overhanging a disabled bay in the car park, with a ‘Mayor of Lancaster’ sign on the dashboard.

The Lancaster Guardian showed the pictures to Morecambe Town Council who gave us this response and said they were grateful it had been brought to their attention.

"We would like to address the situation regarding the parking of a vehicle that slightly overhung an adjacent bay during a council meeting,” a town council spokesperson said.

"While we acknowledge that the vehicle was not fully within the designated parking space, we want to clarify that this occurred because the adjacent parking spot, usually reserved for Lancaster City Council representatives, was already occupied at the time of the Mayor's arrival.

"No access was impeded as other disabled bays remained available throughout the evening, and the Mayoral sign was positioned on the dashboard so the car owner could be easily identified in case the vehicle needed to be moved.

"The car park experienced high occupancy last night (Thursday March 21) and every effort was made by attendees to park where marshals directed them. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and we are grateful that this has been brought to our attention so we can improve our internal procedures to ensure elected officials are more carefully guided to designated spaces in future.

"We provide assurances that we are committed to ensuring accessibility for all individuals and will work to ensure there is clearer signage at future meetings."