A man who drives a specially equipped car to transport his wheelchair-using daughter says unauthorised vehicles are occupying parking spots in Hamilton reserved for those with a PC licence plate or displaying their disabled permit.

David Chew wants to raise awareness of the problem after failing to find a parking space last Friday because unauthorised vehicles were in the four spaces that he checked.

This highlights a recent trend of shopgoers being unable to find adequate parking in and around Hamilton, including the City Hall car park.

The belief is that owing to the Corporation of Hamilton’s climb down on clamping — Chief Justice Ian Kawaley ruled in November that the Corporation does not have the power to clamp vehicles parked illegally — people are taking liberties with the system. Senior engineer at the Corporation Ian Hind said a lack of parking spaces was not the problem and pointed to multiple free parking spots in the Bulls Head parking lot, adding that often there was also space in the Par-la-Ville lot.

In this case, Mr Chew, a carpenter, found all the spots taken when attempting to park on Front Street in one of the allocated disabled bays by Number One dock.

A Transport Control Department parking enforcement van was in one of the places, he said.

He telephoned the number painted on the side of the van and the enforcement official came back right away to move his vehicle. “But he couldn’t even give the illegally parked cars a warning,” Mr Chew said. “There are four handicapped parking spaces on either side of the public bathrooms on Front Street,” he said. “People are just not respecting them.”

Mr Chew explained that his car was larger than average because it is equipped for a wheelchair and therefore requires the additional space a disabled parking spot gives him.

“People need to be educated about this,” he said. Mr Chew also said that he wanted the public to understand that he requires the larger vehicle for carrying his daughter’s wheelchair as he has experienced public disapproval in regard to its size.

He said that the public should check to see if the licence plate is a PC number before making a judgment. Mr Chew also said he experienced public disapproval when he is in the car on his own, but explained he may be driving to collect his daughter, or running errands often on her behalf. “People do not understand,” he said.

Police declined to comment.