A WINCHESTER man says he has been “messed about” after his car was damaged at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

Matthew Ball of Somers Close had parked his BMW in the hospital car park when visiting his sick nan at the start of June, and came back to find scrape marks on the passenger side.

The 32-year-old engineer, who bought the car for £8,000 back in 2017, has dashcam footage of the incident, but the registration of the other vehicle is not clear enough to see.

More than a month on, he has still not been able to resolve the issue – despite speaking to the hospital on several occasions.

He told the Chronicle: “I got onto the security team asking for the hospital’s footage, and they got back to me two days later.

“The man on the phone explained, in detail, what had happened, and it perfectly matched what I had seen on my own dashcam footage.”

Matthew said the culprit, who had parked next to him and hit his vehicle when trying to straighten up, is a “blonde lady in her late 50s”.

She was driving a black Land Rover Discovery, and had a young child with her at the time.

He continued: “The man on the phone told me that I would have to get my insurance company to ask for the footage to help us get the registration number, so I asked my insurance to do that.

“A couple days later, I was told by a woman at the parking department that there wasn’t any footage. I asked her why she was blatantly lying, but it turned out that she wasn’t aware there was CCTV in the car park. Brilliant.

“Then I was told the hospital could not send any form of footage due to data protection. When I asked why, they insisted that I got the police involved. It just seems like there is always an excuse.

“I don’t see why they can’t match up the footage with the camera on the exit, as that is focused on the registration plate to scan people in and out.”

The dashcam footage shows the lady walk over and inspect the damaged BMW, and then walk off again, which is a criminal offence.

Julie Maskery, chief operating officer at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Royal Hampshire County Hospital, as well as hospitals in Basingstoke and Andover, said: “We are sorry that this visitor had this experience in our car park and apologise for giving him conflicting information.

“Where CCTV footage clearly identifies a driver or vehicle involved in accidents in our car parks, the footage is supplied to the relevant insurance company, if requested within seven days of the incident.

“Unfortunately, although CCTV footage was available in this case, it did not assist in identifying the driver or vehicle responsible.”

Matthew has spoken to the police, but says he will not get them involved any further. He thinks it is unfair due to their “limited resources”.

He added: “Everyone makes mistakes, it would just have been nice for that woman to have owned up to it.

“The damage is around £300 worth, and I don’t think she was setting a very good example to the kid she had with her.

“All I want is some information to get this sorted out, and I didn’t think it would be that much to ask for. But the way I’ve been passed about by the hospital is absolutely disgusting.

“I just hope the bloke I originally spoke to doesn’t get in trouble, as he was very helpful.”

Two weeks after the incident at the hospital, Matthew’s car was hit by a van after its owner forgot to put on the handbrake.