A MUM has criticised health centre staff after she was told to pay £25 for accidentally parking in the wrong car park after her baby broke her leg.

Danielle Chopping took her nine-month-old daughter Scarlett to Abingdon Community Hospital for an X-ray on Wednesday last week after she broke it going down a slide.

Although at first glance doctors told her it did not look broken, Mrs Chopping was called the next morning and told to bring her daughter back for treatment.

The 35-year-old jumped in the car with her daughter and two sons, Roman and Harry, and rushed to the hospital in Marcham Road.

She said: “She had a suspected broken leg so I had to go back to Abingdon Hospital, but when I got to the car park it was completely busy, there were not even any disabled spaces.”

Mrs Chopping said that she noticed there were a lot of empty spaces in the Marcham Road Health Centre’s private car park, which is next to the hospital car park.

But she did not notice the signs until she had already driven over a retractable barrier into the car park.

Mrs Chopping added: “There was a sign saying don’t go in, but I didn’t notice until afterwards.

“I had my two little boys with me, so we went in, my daughter had her broken leg confirmed, it was put in plaster.”

Once her daughter had been treated and the family was returning to the car, Mrs Chopping noticed that the barrier was stopping them getting out of the car park.

The health centre put up the £8,000 barrier in February to stop hospital patients and people not using either facility parking in its 40 spaces.

The barrier means anyone can get in, but only patients given a token by a health centre doctor can get out again.

Unable to get back out, Mrs Chopping went into the centre to ask for a token to leave.

But when she went in she was told she needed to pay £25.

She said: “I said I have got my baby here, her leg is broken.

“I showed them my daughter’s leg, saying 'I am really sorry, I would not have parked here, I was in a blind panic this morning' but they said I had to pay £25.”

When Mrs Chopping checked her wallet, she told staff she only had £10, which they took, giving her a token to get out.

Mrs Chopping, who lives in Boars Hill, added: “It’s annoying because the fact they would accept £10 means they can choose to waive it.

“I was trying to be polite because I was obviously upset about my daughter and wanted to get home.

“I couldn’t drop my nine-month-old daughter off outside the door and tell her to go get her leg in a cast.”

The health centre refused to comment.