I note on Tauranga City Council's website that the penalty for parking in a disabled carpark illegally is $150. What an absolute joke!

I had the misfortune to drive down Devonport Road to park in the disabled carpark outside Glassons and the Rialto Theatre. My husband and I were going to the movies – a real treat at the moment.

My husband has recently been diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin lymphoma, with only a 60 per cent chance of recovery, and we have a disabled carpark sticker for our car.

As a result of someone's total thoughtlessness, I had to go around the roundabout, back up Devonport Road and into Elizabeth Street to park the car. My husband, being fiercely independent, didn't want to be 'let out” at the theatre.

I later checked the car in the disabled carpark – no sticker. I went into Glassons and said in a loud voice: 'I hope no-one is in that disabled carpark outside, as you have denied my husband the right to have our car parked there.”

I stuck a note on the windscreen and reported it to council. I wanted that car towed immediately! There should be a hotline number you can ring, and a $150 fine is a total joke. I have supplied the council with the number plate, but I bet nothing is done.

C Frayling, Ohauiti.