A police officer has been given a parking ticket after leaving his van in a disabled bay...to apparently go and buy burritos.
Witnesses claim officers parked a police riot van in a disabled drivers only area outside Taco Bell, in Angel Row, earlier this week.
Road markings and signs indicate the bay is for disabled drivers only.
And the restaurant is just a three-minute walk from the newly-opened Central Police Station, at Byron House in Maid Marian Way.
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Upon investigating the photos, Nottinghamshire Police confirmed that the officer who had driven the van had been given a fixed penalty notice.
The pictures were taken by 42-year-old Stephen Roberts on Wednesday evening. He was at Taco Bell with his partner and their own Blue-badged car was parked behind the police van.
He said: "I was inside the restaurant and saw the van go by; outside on the street I could see a plain-clothes officer waiting by the entrance of the restaurant.
"I thought 'What was going off?' and about a second later five officers piled in. I wondered because of the taxi ranks and disabled bay where would they be able to park.
"I then looked outside and there it was. I didn't see the number plate on the van when it went by but I could tell it was the same one."
Stephen, who took photos of the van and the officers, said he was upset the police appeared to be ignoring the restrictions which help his partner get around.
He added: "It's just one rule for one and one rule for the other.
"If they had to sit in it because of an emergency you don't mind, when they're doing something it's fine.
"It's why people make a fuss, if it was me or you we would be facing a fine."
Charlotte Throssel, from charity Nottingham Disability Direct, said she regularly sees non-disabled drivers flouting parking restrictions.
She added: "If the police were responding to an emergency you have to be a little bit sensible; they have to be as close as they can to what happens as possible, but morally if nothing else it's wrong.
"If you don't need the spaces, don't take them."
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Charlotte, a blue-badge holder herself, says drivers wrongly using disabled parking area is a common complaint from the charity's service users.
She added: "Hate crimes against the disabled are on the rise and this doesn't seem like a lot but it shows that if our police officers don't care about disabled people, why should anyone else?
"They should be our moral compass."
The manager of Taco Bell said that "around eight" officers had visited the restaurant on Wednesday evening to buy food.
A police spokesman added: "We will remind all officers about parking vehicles legally and safely at all times."
