PARKING attendants have been branded "overzealous" for targeting a car which had been left on double yellow lines after breaking down.

Paul Abbott said the tough stance being taken against drivers in York's Micklegate was damaging trade on the street which has seen a number of shops close in recent years.

The Post Office sub-master, who has been at the Micklegate branch for six years, hit out after he was fined £30 for leaving his Subaru on double yellow lines.

"It was my day off, but I had to come and pick something up from the Post Office.

"When I went back outside, my car wouldn't start up again. Until I could establish what was wrong with it, I couldn't go anywhere.

"I put a notice in the window saying broken down'.

"The traffic wardens know my car. Not once did they come and ask me what was wrong with it. I think they should have been lenient.

"I spoke to the warden when he was issuing my ticket. He said I should have gone and told him it had broken down 30 seconds earlier! But there was a note in the window."

Mr Abbott, who noted that the ticket had been issued on Friday the 13th - "a bad day" - intends to appeal against his parking ticket.

He has previously criticised City of York Council for its introduction of evening parking charges and other parking restrictions in the city, and backed The Press's Stop the Highway Robbery campaign.

"Slowly, the parking situation is killing Micklegate," he warned.

"It is just dead now. The shops are slowly closing down. Traffic wardens are overzealous with some people and not with others.

"The way Micklegate is going, and the way people are frightened of even parking here, is untrue."

However, a City of York Council spokeswoman said: "All the council's parking attendants are instructed to issue a penalty charge notice (PCN) when they come across an offence.

"They are told not to exercise their discretion unless a problem, such as a break down, is immediately apparent.

"When drivers have a genuine problem and are able to send in proof such as a garage invoice we will cancel the PCN.

"Unfortunately, there are a significant number of drivers who use false notices in their vehicles to try to get around the parking restrictions and parking attendants cannot tell the difference between those who have genuine problems and those who do not."