The move by Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust was made to prevent band 1 and band 2 workers falling below the National Minimum Wage following its latest increase in April.

A senior healthcare assistant at Grimsby Hospital told Grimsby Live: ‘We weren't event told until we looked on our payslips and we noticed we didn't have lottery or car parking deductions taken out. A lot of people were asking questions and we all got an email the next day explaining why it's happened. We were quite upset, angry and annoyed.

‘It's confusing for us as workers, because we don't understand what's going on until we get emails. We just get left in the lurch.'

An NHS Humber Health Partnership spokesperson said: ‘Due to the National Minimum Wage increasing as of 1 April, we have had to stop some of the additional deductions taken directly from the pay of staff on pay bands 1 and 2. This was a decision that was not taken lightly and is a national issue affecting most NHS organisations.

‘We understand this has caused some inconvenience to staff, in that they have had to make alternative arrangements to pay for their parking, and we have paused the staff lottery draws. We took this action after seeking legal advice to ensure we meet our legal obligations as an employer.

‘Parking permits and staff lottery tickets have always been optional, the difference is prior to this month we were able to take the payments as a salary deduction. Members of staff affected are still able to park, but we are asking for their cooperation in making the payments separately.'