A taxi driver today condemned a traffic warden who slapped a £50 parking ticket on his cab – while he was ASLEEP inside.
Cabbie Steve Woodwards, 41, pulled over for a quick nap in an empty short-stay car park at 7am but nodded off before buying a ticket.
When he woke up 20 minutes later he discovered a traffic warden had crept up to the car and stuck a £50 penalty notice on his windscreen.
Fuming Steve, from Swindon, Wilts., admits he was illegally parked but says the warden should have checked he wasn’t DEAD behind the wheel.
He said: ”I just think it is absolutely ridiculous and laughable.
”This person had no consideration as to whether I was alive, I could have been in a coma or seriously ill.
”I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have expected to find a cab driver sleeping in a car park, so just a quick knock on the door to check if I was ok would have been nice.
”It is not like the space was needed as there was only one other car in the car park. Just a bit of decency wouldn’t have gone a miss.”
Steve, a taxi driver of nine years, pulled into Bath Road car park in Swindon at 7am last Friday after starting his shift at 3.45am.
But before he bought a ticket – which costs 90 pence for an hour – he dozed off.
He said: ”When you start an early shift you can often start feeling a bit dozy, especially when you are just sat around and haven’t had a particularly brilliant night’s sleep beforehand.
”We’d had a busy morning on Friday so I pulled into a space for a quick drink and just dozed off for about 20 minutes.”
Small print on the back of the ticket reveals that the warden had to observe his car for at least three minutes before issuing the ticket.
He said: ”They [traffic warden] must have been completely silent because when you are just dozing, the slightest noise can wake you up.
”I have a radio unit in the car which makes a bleeping noise to let me know I have a job to go to, and that always wakes me up.
”This just shows these traffic wardens aren’t concerned about people’s welfare, all they are interested in is the money.”
Steve has agreed to pay the fine but branded the traffic warden’s actions as ”stupid”.