Health service bosses have been accused of "exploitation" after visitors and staff were forced to pay thousands of pounds in parking fines.

Two London hospitals are fining patients' relatives £25 every time they park in the wrong bay. Medical staff are also being fined if they display their pass incorrectly.

Mayday University Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the hospitals, made £3,000 in the first 10 days of the scheme. If that rate continues it is set to make £100,000 this year.

Geoff Martin, of London Health Emergency, said: "Parking at a hospital is not like parking at Sainsbury's. Sometimes people have to park quickly and will stop wherever they can because they are in an emergency situation.

"It does sound like this is another case of NHS hospitals in London exploiting patients and staff to make a fast buck in parking charges."

The new scheme applies to Mayday University hospital in Thornton Heath and Purley War Memorial hospital.

Previously only dangerously parked cars were clamped, while those that did not display a correct pass went unpunished.

Michael Walker, Unison's London regional officer, said: "It puts staff, who are stressed already, under a lot of pressure. They are using the DVLA to check out registrations, which is a violation of civil liberties."

Figures uncovered by the Nursing Times showed the hospitals issued 117 fixed penalty fines in the first 10 days of the scheme, totalling £2,925.

A spokesman for Mayday University Hospital NHS Trust said: "We waived most of the fines in the first days because it was a new system.They were just warning shots across the bows. Whenever you bring in a new system it needs time to bed in."

Stephen Wells, director of estates and facilities at Mayday Healthcare, said: "We have to employ a set of rules which can be understood by all. These rules have to be enforced uniformly."

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