Officer assaulted as police car given parking ticket in Manchester city centre

A police officer was assaulted as their colleague spoke to a traffic warden who put a parking ticket on their car while they attended an emergency call.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the officer received minor injuries after being attacked while the other officer appealed against the ticket with the warden.

The two officers attended an incident on Portland Street in Manchester city centre at 5.10pm on Tuesday in response to reports of an assault, and parked their car in a taxi rank.

The force, who are appealing against the ticket, said the only other parking option would have blocked a bus lane.

The parking ticket was issued while a man was being arrested, and the force said one of the officers was attacked by the suspect while the other approached the traffic warden to question the decision.

GMP Superintendent Chris Hill said: “Police officers deal with emergency incidents on a daily basis which sometimes means they have to contravene parking rules but they will always make every effort to minimise disruption and are trained to do so.

“We understand that parking wardens follow lawful guidelines when issuing tickets and we are currently working with the council to address any procedures that could penalise officers responding to incidents.

“As such, the decision to give the police car a parking ticket will be appealed in line with an agreed policy with the council where exceptions can lawfully be made for emergency response vehicles.

“We will continue to work closely with our partners from Manchester City Council to ensure we learn from this incident.”

A 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly and assaulting a police office and remains in custody.

A Manchester City Council spokesperson said: “Officers have a duty to be consistent in terms of enforcing against all incidents of illegal parking.

“However, we will always rescind tickets when there are clear mitigating circumstances.

“We are working with Greater Manchester Police to review how we can improve procedures in situations when their officers are responding to emergencies.”