It's a fair cop! Wheelchair-bound motorist's fury after she finds police car in disabled parking bay

A wheelchair-bound motorist was outraged after she spent an hour searching for a disabled parking bay - only to find it occupied by this police car.

Lerona Gelb, 28, was due to meet friends for dinner but was delayed after she spent one hour trying to find a place to park.

She eventually found a disabled parking space near the restaurant - only to discover that an unmanned police car had taken up the berth.

Lerona, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident when she was five, believes the police officer who parked in the spot is 'insensitive'.

She said: 'It's hard enough trying to find somewhere to park when you use a wheelchair and then the only disabled parking space for miles around is taken by a police car.

'It's really frustrating and very insensitive.

Frustrating: Lerona Gelb drove around for an hour before finding a space big enough to allow her to unload the wheelchair.

'I couldn't see any sign of an emergency but even if there was the police could have parked on the double yellow lines.

'Being in a wheelchair means I need to park close to the venue and I need more space. I physically can't get my wheelchair out of my car if another car is parked up next to me.'

Lerona and her fiance Nicholas Goldberg, 27, had arranged to meet friends for dinner in Hampstead, north London, at 4pm on January 2, but rescheduled to meet in Belsize Park after they failed to park.

It took the couple over an hour to find a disabled parking space near the restaurant and they were stunned to see it taken by a police car.

Lerona, of Mill Hill East, London, needs the extra space provided by a disabled parking bay to allow her to manoeuvre her wheelchair in or out of her vehicle.