THE manager of a Cirencester charity shop is furious after a man who was giving donations to her shop was handed a ticket by a traffic warden.

The man, who does not wish to be named, parked his car on double yellow lines outside the Cancer Research charity shop around 3pm on July 10 whilst he dropped off tables and chairs.

He brought in the items in response to an appeal from the shop that asked for furniture so it could create a seating area at the back of the shop for elderly staff members, who struggled to walk up the stairs to the shop's staffroom.

Maria Leonard said she was left flabbergasted when he got a ticket a few minutes after being told by the traffic warden that it was fine for the man to unload the furniture.

“I am absolutely livid. The fact that I explained to him why he was outside and he still did it.I gave him the message that he would be in there 10 minutes tops and he said it was fine.

“Talk about jobsworth – you would think that people would show a little bit of understanding and not give a ticking to someone who was helping us out. His reason was he said he didn’t see any unloading or loading but he knew that the man was.”

Jim Daniels, parking manager at Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), responded to Mrs Leonard's criticisms by advising how a parking ticket can be appealed.

He said: “If someone would like to appeal a parking ticket, all information on how to do that is clearly outlined on the back of the fine. We would need to see evidence that they were loading or unloading goods to the charity shop, such as a letter from the store manager. Once we receive the appeal and evidence we will carry out a full investigation.”

According to GCC regulations, unless there are 'no unloading and loading signs' in place, it is permissible to load and unload if it is safe to do so and continuous and ongoing.

On Castle Street outside the Cancer Research shop 'no unloading and loading signs' are not installed.