Broken down car given parking ticket, says Coventry driver

[dutchman]

A driverclaims he was given a parking ticket even though he had broken down on double yellow lines in Coventry.



Mohammed Sharif says he had no choice but to pull up when his car overheated in Victoria Street, Hillfields.

As he opened the bonnet and took water from a kind shopkeeper, Mr Sharif says two traffic wardens came along and began taking pictures of the car.

He claims they said they weren’t going to give him a ticket, but one arrived in the post three days later.

When the Telegraph contacted the council, a spokesman insisted there was no record of traffic wardens being told the car had broken down.

But Mr Sharif, 35, maintains he did tell them.

He said: “A light came up on the dashboard and I tried to carry on driving the car but it was struggling and kept cutting out and then it just stopped, so for the safety of the public I moved it to the side of the road.

“It seemed to be an electrical fault, so I thought I should let the car cool down.

"Someone from the shop opposite got me some water, so I went across the road to get that to put into my car and that’s when the parking wardens came and started taking pictures of my car.

‘‘I told them I had broken down and asked them not to give me a ticket.’’

“The officers said, ‘No, don’t worry about it. I’m not going to give you a ticket’.”

Mr Sharif says he then managed to get the help of passers-by to push his car into Canterbury Street and park.

The dad-of-three added: “I went home assuming everything was fine and I wouldn’t get a ticket, but after a couple of days I received the ticket in the post.

“I was totally confused at first,then angry, especially because she said she wouldn’t give me a ticket.’’

Mr Sharif, a community leadership worker in Hillfields, has now paid the fine – which would have increased if payment had been delayed – but he has since lodged an appeal.

He said: ‘‘It’s not my fault the engine failed and the car broke down. I thought I should just stop rather than try and drive anymore.’’

A spokesman for Coventry City Council, said Mr Sharif had NOT explained to the parking wardens that he had broken down.

He said: “The car was found parked on double yellow lines with no one in it and the officer began issuing aticket.

“The driver then arrived and got in and drove off. We don’t believe there was any mention of the car being broken down at the time.

“Whenever a car breakdown is given as the reason for getting a ticket, provided we have proof that is the genuine reason, then we would normally cancel the ticket.”