Fine after driver tosses parking ticket

An angry motorist who threw a penalty ticket to the ground after he was caught parking in a taxi rank in Wolverhampton has been hauled before a court for littering.

Azmol Khan, who turns 48 today, returned to his Audi which he had left illegally parked in North Street – outside the very court he appeared before yesterday – to find a parking warden writing up a ticket for his vehicle.

She explained to father-of-four Khan that the ticket he had paid for was invalid as he was in a taxi rank, city magistrates were told.

Mr Adem Muzaffer, on behalf of the city council, said: "He got into his car and refused to accept the ticket. It was attached to the windscreen, but the he got out and removed the ticket and threw it on the floor before driving away."

The warden passed details to council officers, who sent a £60 fine for littering to Khan's home, in Lonsdale Road, Bilston. Khan ignored it, and a reminder letter, so officials visited his house.

Mr Muzaffer said: "He said he remembered the incident but said that the ticket had fallen to the ground."

Khan initially pleaded not guilty to littering, but yesterday changed his plea on what should have been the day of his trial.

Speaking through a Bangladeshi interpreter, he told the court: "It was my mistake, but I was only 20 minutes". Asked why he had thrown the ticket to the ground, he said: "I made a serious mistake, so I apologise."

Magistrates fined him £50, ordered him to pay £100 costs and a £15 fee to support victims of crime.

The council had asked for costs of £562.50.

The original parking ticket has been paid.