FINDING a park at Wagga Base Hospital is hard at the best of times.
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But it's an even more difficult task for a man who only has one leg.
Bevan Sommerville was nabbed by a Wagga City Council ranger after he illegally stopped in close proximity to the hospital entrance on Wednesday afternoon.
The 75-year-old Forest Hill resident and his wife Barbara had parked on Doris Roy Lane for a short time as they rushed to see their son who was preparing for surgery to repair a strangulated hernia.
Mr Sommerville says he had only parked in the spot for about 15 minutes - after spending at least 20 minutes trying to find one.
But in the haste he didn't see the 'no parking' sign attached to a nearby light pole and returned to find a $101 infringement notice slapped on his windscreen.
"We wouldn't have been there for 10 minutes, 15 minutes maximum," Mr Sommerville said.
"I wasn't the only one, there were a heap of cars driving around trying to find a park."
"It's an absolute bloody disgrace."
Mr Sommerville has been without one of his legs since 1957 - he lost it in a motorcycle accident, aged just 18.
Despite having a disabled parking permit, he said it wouldn't have mattered anyway - there were no spaces available.
"There's no where near enough disabled car parks ... there's got to be something done about it," he said.
"Even without the disabled sticker you can't get a park, it's just gradually getting worse and worse.
"It's a hospital not a cafe."
A spokesman for Wagga City Council said the fine was issued because the vehicle was left in a "no parking" zone and impeding the flow of turning traffic.
It has since been paid and a letter of appeal sent to the State Debt Recovery Office.
The parking problem has only been exacerbated by the construction of the new hospital, according to Craig Hesketh.
Mr Hesketh has written to member for Wagga Daryl Maguire on Mr Sommerville's behalf to express concern at the sheer inadequacy of spaces.
In a statement, general manager of Wagga Health Service (WHS), Denis Thomas said the provision of adequate parking was a priority for the redevelopment.
"As new services come online, car parking spaces will gradually increase to around 450 by the completion of the current redevelopment," Mr Thomas said.
Prior to the redevelopment, the hospital had approximately 320 car spaces.
Construction workers have been instructed not to park their vehicles on site, other than the temporary spots allocated for the delivery of building materials.
Mr Thomas said the situation would be monitored to ensure the vehicles weren't utilising public parking spaces.