A MOTORIST was left fuming after a bungling warden gave him a ticket -23 minutes before parking restrictions began for the day!

And Jeffrey Brown, who is a full-time carer for his partner, accused wardens of regularly "hovering around like vultures" in his Blackburn street.

He claimed he was told to go through the standard appeals procedure when he complained.

But now Blackburn with Darwen Council bosses have apologised and promised to cancel the ticket.

Mr Brown, 53, of Alexandra Road, off Dukes Brow, had a £60 penalty notice left on the windscreen of his camper van parked outside his house at 8.37am, even though the parking restrictions on Alexandra Road run from 9am until 4pm.

Mr Brown, who lives with his partner Marilyn Holland, said: "It's ridiculous and I told the council you've made a mistake and you need to scrap the ticket' but they kept telling me I needed to go through the appeals process. The sign clearly says no parking from 9am till 4pm so what are they doing giving me a ticket at that time? To tell me I have to go through the appeals process is stupid. If they had just checked the parking restrictions they would have realised the mistake and could have scrapped the ticket. I think it's stupid especially when I always try and be careful and move my car before 9am every morning."

Mr Brown claimed that the parking wardens often target the street on a Friday because that has traditionally been the day when the bins are emptied. Because refuse trucks have trouble gaining access to the street if cars are parked along it, Mr Brown said the wardens were there to ensure people moved there cars on days such as this but on this occassion they had got it wrong.

"They were hovering around like vultures just waiting to see whether they could book somebody and it makes me very mad," added Mr Brown.

Coun Andy Kay, executive member for regeneration for the council, which operates parking enforcement, said: "We apologise to this gentleman and can assure him that this ticket was issued in error.

"We are happy to cancel it. However, in order to make the process much quicker we do need him to contact us with his details and would ask him to get in touch at his earliest convenience."