A Devon council has been criticised for charging the NHS to place a mobile breast screening unit in its car parks, which has led health officials to use private sites instead.
Teignbridge District Council's policy has been challenged by Buckfastleigh town councillor Sue Clarke. She said residents were angry that the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust had been asked to pay thousands of pounds to use council-owned car parks for the service.
The trust said it was grateful to organisations for providing alternative locations.
A district council spokesperson said it had offered the maximum reduction allowed under its policies, and was reviewing its approach to fees and concessions.
Other locations being used by the trust for the service include Buckfast Abbey, the House of Marbles in Bovey Tracey, Sainsbury's in Dawlish and Morrisons in Teignmouth.
Clarke said her latest mammogram appointment had taken place at Buckfast Abbey rather than the town's main car park, where the mobile unit had been based for the past 25 years, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), external.
"Teignbridge has asked the NHS to pay thousands of pounds to situate the breast screening unit in the car park for its two-week duration," she said.
She said the NHS had been fortunate to secure space at Buckfast Abbey after a cancellation, and warned that without that opportunity the screening unit might not have visited Buckfastleigh this year.
Clarke said she had been told of at least two women whose cancers had been detected after attending the service in the town.
She added: "I have never had so many messages privately from individuals expressing their utter disgust at Teignbridge."
A Teignbridge District Council spokesperson said requests to waive parking charges were considered on a case-by-case basis.
The council said it had sought to offer the maximum reduction available under its policy and was reviewing its approach to parking fees and concessions while remaining supportive of initiatives that promoted community health and wellbeing.
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Teignbridge Council Criticised Over Breast Screening Unit Parking Fees