The picture that has caused outrage among Sheffield's disabled and elderly peopleÂ

A picture supposedly showing several construction vehicles parking illegally in disabled spaces in Sheffield city centre has sparked complaints.Â
Councillor Ben Miskell with the vehicles.Councillor Ben Miskell with the vehicles.
Councillor Ben Miskell with the vehicles.

The image shows a digger plus other heavy industry vehicles parked across four disabled spaces in the Rockingham Gate area close to The Moor. 

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 'When will the first accidents happen?'

Residents claim the vehicles belonged to a construction firm who are building in the area and there are claims the machines were parked there for three days between August 31 and September 2 last weekend.

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The picture, which has been shared widely across social media, has sparked anger from residents and a councillor.

Winnie Smith, who suffers from arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, claimed drivers using disabled spaces illegally is sadly a common problem in the city centre. 

The 79-year-old Arbourthorne resident said she noticed the vehicles parked in the spaces during a shopping trip with her daughter Tracy.

She said: 'I think its disgusting. We had to park further away and it was about a 15 minute walk in when it should have just been a few minutes.

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'For people like me who are disabled this is a major inconvenience, the extra distance is tiring.

'You should only be able to park there if you have a Blue Badge.'

She added: 'It happens all the time, the council needs to crackdown on it.

'There are a lot of developments going on in the city centre and these building firms need to know they can't just park wherever they want.

'If it was me or you then they would be fined.'

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Ben Miskell, councillor for Park and Arbourthorne, said he has asked council bosses to clarify whether or not there was a traffic regulation order in place on the road which would have meant they could temporarily park there.

He added: 'I've been in touch with parking services, who tell me that they are sorting out the matter with the construction firm and our own highways department.

'I got involved after constituents of mine were rightly frustrated about this. I was certainly very disgruntled to see this sort of inconsiderate parking.' 

Clee Hill Plant Ltd, a construction plant hire company whose machinery can be seen in the picture, said they have raised the issue with the customer who was using the vehicles.

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Stephan Mosley, depot manager for the firm, said: 'I would like to apologise on behalf of the company for our customer parking these in such a place to warrant the complaint. 

'Furthermore I can confirm an internal complaint has been raised in which the customer has been informed and responded with an apology.

'The managing director of this company has sent a memo out to all his employees referencing this complaint to ensure it doesn't happen again. 

'Obviously from our companies point of view we condemn this behaviour as this can sometimes have a direct impact on our business even though we are not the end user.'

Sheffield Council has been asked for comment and we are waiting for a reply.Â