What a car-fuffle! Elderly couple are finally reunited with their vehicle after spending FIVE DAYS trying to remember where they parked it

  •  Hilda Farmer and her partner Emmanuel Elliot lost their Ford Fiesta for five days
  •  Mrs Farmer, 79, had dropped off Mr Elliot, 89, at Cheltenham General Hospital
  • Unable to park, the great-grandmother went in search of a space elsewhere
  • The couple turned to social media with police and traffic wardens on the hunt 
  • The car was found by builder Martin Tyler parked half a mile from the hospital

By TOM PAYNE FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Published: | Updated:

We’ve all had that fleeting moment of panic – ‘where did I park the car?’

But generally even the most absent-minded of us will find (or stumble upon) our vehicle within a few minutes.

However, that lightbulb moment never happened for Hilda Farmer, 79, and her partner Emmanuel Elliot, 89 – and they spent almost a week desperately trying to remember where they had left their Ford Fiesta.

Hilda Farmer, 79, and her partner Emmanuel Elliot, 89, who spent almost a week desperately trying to remember where they had left their Ford Fiesta

Hilda Farmer, 79, and her partner Emmanuel Elliot, 89, who spent almost a week desperately trying to remember where they had left their Ford Fiesta

The couple had travelled ten miles from Gloucester to Cheltenham General Hospital last Friday

The couple had travelled ten miles from Gloucester to Cheltenham General Hospital last Friday

The mystery led to a social media search, with even police and traffic wardens on the hunt.

The couple had travelled ten miles from Gloucester to Cheltenham General Hospital last Friday.

Finding the hospital’s car park full, Mrs Farmer dropped off Mr Elliot for his appointment and went in search of a space elsewhere.

The retired psychiatric nurse found a pay and display bay, and then spent half an hour walking back to the hospital. But on the return trip, the great-grandmother forgot where she had parked the 2012-registered silver Fiesta – and days of searching, assisted by her daughter, son and granddaughter, yielded nothing.

By Tuesday, having been forced to use their bicycles as transport, the couple offered a £100 reward, and their plea went viral online.

The car was discovered by builder Martin Tyler in a car park half a mile from the hospital

The car was discovered by builder Martin Tyler in a car park half a mile from the hospital

They were finally reunited with the vehicle yesterday morning, after it was discovered by builder Martin Tyler in a car park half a mile from the hospital. Mrs Farmer said yesterday: ‘Aren’t we lucky to live in a country where an old aged pensioner’s car gets national news coverage?’ She added: ‘I’m a Gloucester girl so Cheltenham is like a foreign land to me.’

The car has picked up three parking tickets. But the local authority say these will be looked on ‘sympathetically’ in an appeals process.

 

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