I find this just funny.

Tickets to rile ... We reveal the ten most unreasonable parking fines of all time
Last updated at 13:04pm on 27th March 2008



Most drivers vent a little steam when they get a parking ticket - and the number who appeal successfully proves they're often right to be annoyed.

But a new list of the most ridiculous parking tickets ever issued shows that almost nothing will stop the determined parking warden from slapping a ticket on a vehicle.

Indeed, it suggests a host of ways that officious officials can take advantage of drivers when they are at their most vulnerable.

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Driven to distraction: Even mitigating circumstances such as falling prey to a heart attack or bank robbers cut no ice with some wardens



The pit-stop ambush

Lorry driver Michael Collins was on his way to collect a skip in London's Belsize Park when the road beneath him collapsed. A burst water main had created a deep hole where the front wheels of his 17-tonne lorry were now stuck.

While he was waiting for roadside assistance, a parking attendant appeared. To the astonishment of nearby residents - and despite Mr Collins' protests, she stood on tiptoe and plastered a parking ticket on his windscreen - while helpfully telling him: "You can appeal".


The trunk road swoop

If a tree fell on your car and you escaped death by inches, you might expect some sympathy from your local council. But there was no sign of compassion from Wychavon District Council for Nicky Clegg of Stoulton, Worcs, after when a tree crashed down on her car as she drove her 82-year-old mother and 11-year-old son.

Police dragged the wrecked car - with crushed bonnet, smashed windscreen and broken wing mirrors - to the roadside and told Mrs Clegg she could leave it there and pick it up the following day. When she came back, a parking ticket was stuck on the window.


The knock-down surprise

Think that being badly injured is an excuse to park illegally? Think again. When Nadhim Zahawi of South London was thrown from his scooter and left lying in the road with a broken leg, a heartless warden from Lambeth Council slapped a £100 ticket on his bike.


The cavalry attack

You leave your horse in the street and what do you expect to find when you get back? A small pile of manure perhaps, but not a parking ticket.

Yet this is exactly what happened to Robert McFarland, a retired blacksmith from Yorkshire, when he left his horse Charlie Boy for a few moments.

Under the vehicle description on the ticket, the over-zealous warden had written "brown horse".

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You've been ticketed: A warden prepares to issue a fine. But some attendants take rather less care over details, as our list shows



The daylight robbery

It was a terrifying ordeal for Fred Holt, 77, when he went to the bank and two masked men burst in brandishing an axe and a machete.

The robbers held the axe to a young cashier's throat while money was handed over, and the customers were forced to lie on the floor. Later, they had to give statements to police.

It seems traffic wardens had not listened when officers told them about the raid and asked them not to issue tickets. Mr Holt found a £30 parking ticket pinned to his windscreen for staying 20 minutes longer than allowed.


The donor kebab

"Do something amazing today" runs the slogan of the National Blood Service. In Sutton, a traffic warden did just that - by ticketing a blood donor lorry.

The mobile National Blood Service truck had parked at the same spot in Sutton, Surrey, for four years when the zealous parking attendant issued a ticket while donors gave blood inside.

Sutton council eventually waived the fine, saying the parking attendant had made a simple error of judgment. Or to put it more aptly, a rush of blood to the head.


The bus stop gambit

Manchester bus driver Chris O'Mahony pulled up at a bus stop in his No 77 to let passengers on. While he was handing them their tickets, a Manchester City Council parking attendant handed him one.

Passengers looked on in disbelief as the warden joined the queue to prepare the parking ticket, deposited the £40 notice and walked off.

The driver, apparently, had parked in a restricted area. The attendant said he'd been told to issue tickets to buses that park.

Council bosses cancelled the ticket and the warden was sent for retraining - hopefully as something other than a warden.


The heart attack attack

David Holmes felt chest pains as he was driving and headed for hospital, where he was forced to park on the roadside and was treated for a heart attack.

A nurse thoughtfully left a note on the windscreen explaining the emergency and saying Mr Holmes's daughter would pick the car up later.

It proved futile. A parking attendant slapped a parking ticket on the car and despite an appeal to the local council the £40 fine was not cancelled.


The random posting

Krister Nylander was dismayed to receive a parking ticket in the post for parking in Warwick.

But he knew the ticket had to be wrong - he lives in Sweden and had not visited England since he was 16.

The offending vehicle was his 20-ton snowmobile, which had barely ever left his barn, let alone Sweden.

How did it get the ticket? Absolutely no Ikea.


Driving home the lesson

A driving instructor was issued with a CCTV parking ticket when his pupil stalled while attempting a three-point turn and could not restart the car.

The offence? Parking more than 50 centimetres from the kerb.


• List compiled with the help of Barrie Segal, founder of AppealNow.com and author of the book, The Parking Ticket Awards: Crazy Councils, Meter Madness and Traffic Warden Hell To buy a copy, visit appealnow.com/book.html

Wow. . .the sad thing is that none of those really surprise me

the grey ghosts swooped and got me one day. i got a ticket for parking in an all day parking area.

Seriously, you'll think that the police people get money for giving out fines.

They do. They get a bonus for writing more than their quota. More tickets = More $$ for the City, Most people wont fight the ticket and pay. Why wouldnt the city encourage that?

I'm not surprised at this either...In our town the cops have a certain quota of tickets that they have to give out each month...And they will use any little excuse to get their quota....

That is absolutely hilarious. I think its pretty simple. Dont want a fine, dont park illegally, but all of the fines above are just ridiculous. The time and money councils waste buy dealing with rightfully contested parking fines would be huge. Alittle common sense from the councils part would save everyone alot of hassle, including their own

Then they should stop the bonus and the quota. See how it makes them beheave.

Man, how do parking-attendants sleep at night.

I'm not giong to bother getting a car any more...

heartless jerks! I would sue them!

ahh sue.. when all else fails and stamping your feet cant get your way.. sue someone

no wonder the world is full of greedy ppl

So don't you think they should stop the quota thing? I mean we are supposed to be striving for a perfect world. And they don't even believe in it themselves

I believe, in England at least, they don't have quotas or targets, they have "projections". Which they only admit to because someone got hold of a document with some figures on it. Don't you just love the way governments run?

It's not greed, it's showing them that if they are going to stamp their feet and say "we're bigger than you do as I say", they will get stood on.

Seems to me the city council are encouraging drivers to park illegally?

Exactly what I thought!!!! Doh!!!!

Tell me about it...

the worst ticket I ever got was on my friends birthday.
we went to the bar to celebrate and I decided to walk instead of driving.
on my way home I was pulled over and ended up with a $120 fine for "Public Intoxication"

Honestly.. i would knock the living sh** out of a warden that did something stupid like this to me..