Cantelowes Gardens

A DISABLED woman and her friend were knowingly locked inside Cantelowes Gardens by a park ranger and had to call the fire brigade to free them.

Rachel Dooley, 36, has a range of mobility issues, including Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and arthritis and subluxation in her spine.

This means that she cannot walk very far, sometimes uses a wheelchair and has a blue badge for her car.

On Saturday evening, Ms Dooley and her sister-in-law Zahra Sibblies, 36, had parked in Oseney Crescent by the gate to the gardens and were sitting on a bench.

A park ranger locked the gate and informed them that the park was closing and they should leave via the other two exits. Ms Dooley told him she could not walk to the other end of the park and then back to her car and asked him to reopen the gate nearest to them.

She said that he refused to do so, adding: “So I said ‘I can show you my blue badge. I’m not trying it on. I know it might be annoying to you but I really can’t walk that far’.”

“But he then walked off and locked the rest of the park. Even if I wanted to, I could not have kept up with him. I’ve never seen such a lack of empathy.”

Rachel Dooley and Zahra Sibblies

Ms Dooley called the council who promised her they would ring her back. But an hour passed and they still had not heard anything.

“I’ve got really bad anxiety in general and it was getting dark out,” she said. “There are no lights in there.” They decided to call the fire brigade and six firefighters arrived to cut the lock.

Ms Dooley said: “I don’t want people to die because we’re calling the fire brigade for a stupid and embarrassing reason.

“It’s ridiculous that we have to waste time and resources when the guy could have just gone around the corner and opened the gate. I just wanted to cry; it was so awful,” Ms Dooley said she believes this incident is “typical” of Camden Council’s treatment of disabled people and added she is used to people asking her to prove that she is disabled when she’s not using a wheelchair.

“I don’t always have the option of using the wheelchair all the time. It involves needing someone with me who can lift the chair in and out of the car and then push me in it,” she said.

“On my better days it is possible to coordinate parking close enough to only need to walk a very small distance to sit down on the bench rather than going through the hassle of using a wheelchair when no one’s there to help you.”

A council spokesperson said: “We would like to offer an apology to Rachel and her friend for the distress and inconvenience caused by this unfortunate incident.

“At closing, our parks teams walk the entirety of each park with a bell to inform users that the park is closing, allowing time for users to make their way out of the park. They will then walk the perimeter of the park to lock each gate and inform any members of the public remaining in the park about how to exit.

“On Saturday evening there were other members of the public in the park who refused to leave at closing. On the rare occasion when this happens, one gate is left open overnight to prevent anyone from being locked in the park.”

They added: “Despite taking this precaution, the locking operative was unfortunately not aware that there were members of the public in the park who were unable to use this gate. We are sorry that assistance was not then offered to Rachel and her friend to exit the park.”