Council Forced To Pay Driver £41 Compensation - From Parking Ticket Residue On Windshield

A council was forced to pay compensation to a driver – after a parking ticket left a sticky residue on a car windscreen.

The guilty motorist was actually left in profit, winning £41 from his local authority after the penalty notice did not peel cleanly off his car.

The fine itself was only £25.

The man demanded compensation from Canterbury City Council, claiming the adhesive had caused damage.

Remarkably, council chiefs agreed to pay him £41 despite saying there was no problem with the adhesive, Mail Online reports.

The ticket, issued last year, was for £50, but the man paid within two weeks so it was reduced to £25 – giving him an overall profit.

Local Gareth Simpson, 41, said yesterday: ‘It’s ridiculous that the council paid out for someone having a sticky windscreen. If the guy was parked illegally he should just pay up, but it’s obvious the council didn’t want to get into a fight.

'This guy has walked off £16 better off than he was before he got the parking ticket – and it’s being paid for with our council taxes.’

A council spokesman said: 'The allegation of damage to a windscreen following the issuing of a penalty charge notice was looked into fully. The claim was settled and the complainant received the payment from our insurance company.’

He added: 'If we believe we are at fault, we do not make people jump through hoops, but equally if we believe the claim to be spurious, we will defend our position.'

'It is inevitable, given the large amount of property and land we own and the wide range of services we pro provide, that there are occasional incidents where people will want to make a claim against us.’

Canterbury City Council has paid out just over £15,000 in compensation in just two years.

Picture from Rex Features