The mother of a severely disabled boy has accused hospital bosses of profiteering after being slapped with a ticket for parking in a disabled space earmarked for private patients only.

Vicki Kidney, 35, from Breadlands Close in Willesborough, was taking her eight-year-old son Lukas to the William Harvey Hospital for his hydrotherapy session.

She says he has been “through hell” because he suffers from a rare condition where he was born with bones missing, leading to years of painful surgery and regular appointments to allow him to be free of his wheelchair and crutches.

She said: “I went to where I have parked previously without any problems and displayed the disabled badge, but the spaces seem to have been given over to private patients.

“It means the nearest disabled spaces are in the main car park a quarter of a mile away. There is no way Lukas can walk that far.

“He can’t go and play with his friends when they are running around and playing, so hydrotherapy is important for him to be able to move, as well as being an essential part of his recovery.”

Vicki said she took care to avoid spaces which had been marked as private spaces only, and that where she parked there was no sign to say she couldn’t park there.

She added: “I gave up my job to care for him, so this is an additional financial strain on the family. I just feel like they are profiteering from sick people.

“I think it’s outrageous. People are not parking there unless they are going through something very severe and quite traumatising in their life or child’s life.

“I don’t ask for much in this life except for my son to be able to move freely. Lukas will recover, he will be back on his feet, but there are other children going to the unit there who won’t get that.

“Why he should be charged for the privilege of having to walk a lesser distance is beyond me. It’s an absolute disgrace to penalise people in this way.”

Vicki says she now intends to challenge the £20 ticket from the East Kent NHS Trust (EKHUFT) because the space was not clearly marked as being for private patients only.

A spokesman for the trust said: “We can confirm that eleven car parking spaces are owned by Spencer Private Hospitals for private patients but the Trust’s car parking team is responsible for enforcing the parking rules.

“This ticket was issued appropriately but we are of course happy to look into the matter if we are contacted directly.”