Traffic warden tickets lorry - with driver dead inside

A traffic warden gave a parking ticket to a lorry - without noticing that the driver was dead behind the wheel.

When police received a report that an HGV driver had suffered a medical episode outside Farm Foods in Bolton, Greater Manchester, they turned up to find the lorry with its hazard lights on.

The driver, 52-year-old Nicholas Ray Allcock, was dead in the cab.

But on the windscreen was a parking ticket, issued by a civil enforcement officer from contractor NSL on behalf of Bolton Council an hour earlier.

"We can confirm that a HGV was issued with a Penalty Charge Notice for illegal parking in Halliwell Road on March 18. As a matter of routine, an enforcement officer took a photograph of the vehicle and undertook a cursory external inspection from the roadside prior to issuing the notice," a NSL spokesman told the Bolton News.

"On review there is nothing to suggest that the HGV driver was in his cab at the time the ticket was issued. Naturally, all of our thoughts go out to the driver and his family and friends."

Tests have now shown that Mr Allcock died of natural causes, and an inquest will be held in due course.

In this case, the ticket was clearly an oversight. However, parking wardens are notoriously callous when it comes to issuing tickets.

Last autumn, for example, angina sufferer David Hands was issued with a ticket after pulling over to take his medicine. His appeal - with a note from his doctor explaining the circumstances - was rejected. It was only at a second appeal that the £70 fine was withdrawn.

And in 2013, a woman who had rushed from her car to give first aid to someone who had collapsed in the street, also found herself given a ticket for her pains. She too was eventually refunded after a councillor intervened.

The same thing happened to a Bournemouth student last year as he ran to the aid of an elderly lady - despite the fact that the warden could clearly see what was happening.

The good news is that more than a quarter of people who appeal against a parking fine manage to get it overturned.

Car sales website Zuto has a guide on how to appeal against a ticket here.