PARKING attendants did not let a Bank Holiday stand in their way over Easter — they booked motorists anyway. Many drivers thought that restrictions did not apply on bank holidays and parked on single yellow lines in the city centre in good faith, only to

PARKING attendants did not let a Bank Holiday stand in their way over Easter - they booked motorists anyway.

Many drivers thought that restrictions did not apply on bank holidays and parked on single yellow lines in the city centre in good faith, only to find a ticket on their cars when they returned.

One person who managed to evade the yellow peril was Oliver Arnott from St Albans who was going to Rileys' snooker hall in Upper Dagnall Street on Bank Holiday Monday with his father who has walking problems because of ill health.

He parked in Verulam Road at the back of the Colonnade so his father would not have far to go, only to find when he got out of the car that other vehicles on the single yellow lines there had been given parking tickets.

Oliver went on: "I saw a traffic warden giving a ticket to another unsuspecting person's car on a single yellow. I asked him why he was doing this as it is generally accepted that single yellows are okay on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

"His response was that the council had specifically instructed the traffic wardens to give tickets to people on single yellows on this Bank Holiday. I was completely shocked and told him this was surely wrong."

Oliver said the parking attendant did not respond and did not really appear to know what he was talking about.

He was particularly concerned because in the future parking attendants in the district could be given new powers to hand out fines to motorists.

Oliver moved to a car park down the road which meant his father had to walk in pain to the snooker hall.

Innocent

He added: "Surely this cannot be fair and I feel sorry for the innocent people who parked in what they thought was an acceptable space only to find they had been given a parking ticket on their day off."

A spokesperson for the district council said that single yellow lines were effective and enforceable on bank holidays in accordance with the time plate which made no reference to them.

He added: "Parking attendants would have been undertaking their usual duties and were not under any special instructions. Parking within the district car parks in Harpenden and St Albans is free on a bank holiday to discourage drivers from parking on the road.