Parking ticket shock as driver returns from dental appointment to unexpected fine in Shrewsbury – see photo

Visiting the dentist is painful enough but one motorist voiced his frustration at the added pain of a parking ticket when he got back to his car.

The 59-year-old, from Shrewsbury, appealed the ticket, from the Frankwell Quay car park in Shrewsbury, to Shropshire Council - but has seen his efforts refused.

And while the picture of the Mini shows it is well outside the white line marking the parking space - its frustrated owner said it was just a logical way to avoid the possibility of his car door getting bumped.

He said he had subsequently discovered that the car would have been blocking a garden gate to the neighbouring property, but said the council notice only highlighted him parking outside the bay in terms of his penalty.

To add insult to injury he said the traffic warden had seen him park, and that his ticket must have been administered immediately after he walked out of the car park, just two minutes after he bought it at 8.13am.

He said: “I just wanted to be as far across as possible to stop anyone dinging my door.”

The fence next to the space does have a sign asking people to park back as far as possible to avoid blocking the gate, which he said he did.

But it was to no avail, with the warden issuing a £25 ticket.

In his appeal letter to Shropshire Council he said: “The parking officer was sat in his car directly in front of mine, and watched me pay for the ticket, timed at 8.13am. The PCN is times at 8.15am, at no point did he offer me the chance to move my vehicle to avoid the PCN.”

Responding the council said: “After reviewing the issuing officer notes and photographs, I am satisfied that the contravention ‘parked beyond the bay markings occurred’.”

It added there were “insufficient grounds” to cancel the penalty.

The exasperated motorist said that he had been “livid” upon discovering the fine, adding: “Had there been another bay to my left hand side I would not have parked where I did.”

He said: “All he needed to do was tell me to move it or you’ll get a ticket, but obviously he wanted the revenue. He wanted the ticket, didn’t he.”