The mayor of Galway has described as disgraceful the refusal of clampers to release a car from outside a doctor's surgery, even though the owner had to bring his child to hospital on an urgent call.
The father of the eight-year-old child, who needed to be transferred to University College Hospital in Galway, had his car released only when a garda, who was called to the scene, agreed to pay the release fee with his own credit card.
"It is absolutely unbelievable that someone would take it upon themselves to prevent a parent from bringing their child to hospital in an emergency situation," said Mayor Terry O'Flaherty.
"I have been told that action has been taken by officials of the City Council to resolve this issue, but I never want to see the likes of it happening again."
Both the parent and the doctor had parked in spaces reserved for the disabled when they were clamped on Saturday morning.
After examining the child, the doctor advised the father to bring her to the hospital immediately.