Council offer ‘apology’ after traffic warden slaps fine on broken down car in middle of busy road
A Welsh council has offered an apology to a motorist after the driver was issued a parking fine despite the car being broken down in the middle of a busy road.
The incident took place in Merthyr Tydfil and has been described as “an absolute disgrace” by an eyewitness.
After the driver, who has not been identified, ran out of fuel the car was left on the side of the road with its hazards on and a passenger inside. While the driver ran off to a local petrol station to the vehicle going again, a traffic warden was seen approaching by Lisa Thomas.
Lisa told walesonline.co.uk that she felt compelled to take photos and post them on the Merthyr Council Truths Facebook group after seeing the warden hold a short conversation with the passenger and then slap a fine on the front window.
“What my business partner Clare Holdaway and I witnessed we think is an absolute disgrace, that this parking attendant would issue a ticket on a vehicle that had sadly broken down,” Lisa told walesonline.co.uk
“What is the world coming to when no one helps each other any more? A bit of good will goes a long way in my eyes but with incidents like this, you can understand why the community loses faith.”
Merthyr Council has since apologised for the incident explaining that the warden had issued the fine for what he saw as “obstruction of a clearway” - a violation of UK Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.
“The council would like to offer an apology to the motorist in question for not offering our full assistance when they were in difficulty,” said a spokesman.
“Now that the full details have come to light, our parking manager is in the process of getting in touch with the motorist in question in order to resolve the matter.”
