Apology from disabled parking MP

12.24.52pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 4th Jun 2007

A Conservative MP who parked illegally in a disabled bay has said comments he made were misconstrued. Anthony Steen, MP for Totnes in Devon, left his car at Newton Abbot rail station for several days last week and received two fixed penalty notices.

Mr Steen caused a furore by claiming the number of parking spaces for disabled people was disproportionate. But the MP apologised on BBC South West's Politics Show and said he would never park in a disabled bay again.

"I apologised the very day I did it - both on radio and in the newspapers - and I'm apologising now," he said. "It was careless, inconsiderate and wrong. I've driven for 45 years and I have never, ever parked in a disabled space and never will I do so again."

He said his comments about an "absurd number of handicapped spaces", which were seldom used were not a criticism of disabled people. Mr Steen defended his comments by saying he believed the reason some disabled bays remained empty at railway stations was a disability access issue.

"They're not using them because of the difficulty in getting on the train and that's the important point," he said. He added he would now campaign for better access to public transport for disabled people.

Mr Steen said he would not be claiming the cost of his parking fines on expenses.