Transport for London (TfL) have been branded a "disgrace" and "soulless" over their decision to proceed with a penalty charge against a woman who suffered a miscarriage the day after driving through a congestion charge zone.
A woman has claimed that she forgot to pay the fee due to being overwhelmed with grief and has been issued a fine by the transport network as a result.
She says she explained her devastating situation to TfL and offered to pay the original charge that she owed.
But instead of taking pity on the woman for her loss, she was told that they had decided not to "exercise discretion" with her case.
Taking to Twitter, the woman shared a screenshot of part of the letter she received from the government body.
In their reply TfL said they recognise that "this must have been a distressing time" but reinforced that "there is a responsibility for the appropriate charge to have been paid for the use of a vehicle on a road within the Congestion Charging Zone".
They continued: "We have considered fully the issues raised and have decided that on this occasion we are unable to exercise discretion and the PCN will not be cancelled, as the charge could have been purchased in advance".
Hitting back at the idea that she should have purchased the charge beforehand, the woman sarcastically apologised for not being able to "anticipate" the loss of her unborn child.
She writes: "Thank you @TfL for acknowledging my miscarriage would have been 'a distressing time' & I'm sorry that whilst I was pregnant I did not pay for the congestion charge before anticipating that I would miscarry!"
She goes on to say that she assumes the person who sent the letter was a man and tweets at TfL that she is planning to make a formal complaint.
"I cannot afford to appeal your decision but will be making a formal complaint for the tone of your letter. I would not wish this on my worst enemy so am glad no one in your department seems to have experienced this or empathises," she adds.
Hundreds have liked her tweet so far, with many people rallying around to share support and calling for TfL to cancel her PCN.
One person said: "This is absolutely appalling @TfL. Totally unfeeling and inappropriate."
Another commented: "I'm so sorry this happened to you. That letter is a disgrace."
A third added: "I am so sorry to hear of your miscarriage. Those who haven't suffered miscarriage just don't understand. Look after yourself and my thoughts with you.
"Well done for speaking up. Let others now shout out for you via Twitter @TfL the tone of your letter is dreadful."
A fourth described the letter as "soulless", saying: "I am so sorry. I cannot even begin to imagine just how horrible it must have been to receive this soulless rejection. Totally outrageous!"
TfL's official Twitter account have since responded to the woman's tweet, saying they would look into the issue further.
A spokesperson said: "Hi, I understand how upsetting this would have been for you, and I'm sorry for the delay in getting back about it. Can you please DM us your PCN number and email address and I will get it looked into straight away."
