And finally…give me a break-down

A traffic warden in Wales has been condemned for issuing a parking ticket to a car that had broken down -and still had a passenger inside.

The overzealous attendant came across the car on a busy road in the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil, after its driver, who has not been identified, had walked to a nearby garage to get petrol, according to a bystander.

The incident was witnessed by Lisa Thomas who posted pictures of the exchange on the page of Facebook group Merthyr Council Truths.

They show the traffic warden, dressed in a hi-vis blue and black uniform, standing next to the car and giving someone inside the vehicle, which has its hazard warning lights on, a ticket.

According to Ms Thomas, who took the picture from her nearby House of Hair hair salon, the owner of the car had walked to the garage to get petrol and a passenger, who was left in the car, was issued with the ticket.

Ms Thomas said the incident was “absolutely disgusting”.

She added: “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.

“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.”

The ensuing furor has prompted Merthyr Council confirmed that a fixed penalty notice had been issued but that it would now be reinvestigating the incident.

A spokeswoman said: “The council would like to offer an apology to the motorist in question for not offering our full assistance when they were in difficulty.

“Obstruction of a clearway is in breach of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and has clear safety implications. It is for this reason that the civil enforcement officer issued a fixed penalty notice.

“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.”