A ST ALBANS visitor has won her battle with the district council over a parking ticket she bought more than a year ago.

Mrs Susan Cordrey, from Bedford, was told last Friday, June 7, that she may have to pay fines and court costs of up to £500 after she received a ticket on May 15 last year.

Yet St Albans District Council parking services admitted on Monday, June 10, that there had been a mistake and said that it would not pursue the matter.

Mrs Cordrey said: "I parked my car at a little past 11.30am along Romelands in St Albans in May last year, purchased a pay and display ticket for two hours at a cost of £1.20 and went to do my shopping.

"When I returned at 1pm I found a parking ticket for £20 stuck to the windshield of my car.

"The reason given for the fine was that I had not bought adequate time on my ticket, when I clearly had," she said.

"I posted evidence of my ticket purchase to the council that same evening and heard nothing back for months, so naturally I assumed the matter was closed. "Then on Friday I received a letter telling me that I was to be taken to court and could face a fine and court fees amounting to nearly £500.

"It's ridiculous because I even asked a nearby traffic warden if my car was all right when I parked it there and he said there was no problem."

Mrs Cordrey was even more outraged as Control Plus, which runs the controlled parking zones (CPZ) in association with the district council, told her it had informed her of impending court action on May 21 last year.

She said: "I had received no such information or I would not be so adamant that I will not pay now."

Mr Gordon Webster, parking services manager for the council, said on Monday: "There has been some confusion in that area between parking on Romelands Hill which has a two-hour maximum parking limit and Romelands which has a one hour limit.

"The notice to Mrs Cordrey was sent out automatically by computer but we will leave an instruction with Control Plus to cancel the excess charge."

June 12, 2002 10:00