A Good Samaritan who left his van to help a cyclist knocked over in York was rewarded with a parking ticket.

Plumber Danny Young was stunned to find the ticket attached to his van when he returned from assisting a woman who had been in a collision with a car in North Street.

Mr Young, along with business partner Paul Middlemass, had parked up their vehicle to unload some tools when they saw the accident happen outside the Moat House Hotel.

Mr Young, of Osbaldwick, used his mobile phone to phone for an ambulance, helped wrap the girl in blankets and carried her damaged bike into the hotel.

But when he went back to his van, he found a traffic warden had handed him a £30 ticket for parking illegally in the street.

Mr Young, who works for D&A Construction at Rawcliffe Joinery Works, said the episode left him feeling sour.

"We rang for the ambulance, we got the manager from the hotel and some blankets to keep her warm. Unfortunately, we didn't move the van," he said.

"We got back and there was a ticket on the van. I didn't see anyone nearby but, to be honest, I wasn't interested at the time.

"I would have thought he (the parking warden) must have heard the ambulances or seen it at least, but he can't have done.

"If we thought we were not needed, we would have got back in the van and carried on, but the girl was in pain. Maybe I should have left it, because we thought we could lend a hand and we have ended up paying the penalty."

Mr Young said he had passed the ticket on to his employers at D&A Construction, who were appealing to the council against the penalty.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "Obviously, our parking attendant would not have been aware of what Mr Young was doing when they found that his van was illegally parked.

"We received a letter from Mr Young's employers, D&A Construction, on Thursday, which refuted the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and we will be investigating the situation in due course.

A Tees, North and East Yorkshire Ambulance spokeswoman confirmed it attended an accident outside the hotel, in North Street, on November 4 at 8.06am. The cyclist was taken to York Hospital but was not thought to be seriously injured.

Updated: 10:14 Monday, November 15, 2004