A parking warden has been criticised after they tried to give a funeral procession a parking ticket as the family was mourning the loss of a loved one. The incident happened outside the Welwyn Garden City United Reform Church when mourners walked outside to find a traffic warden taking pictures of the hearse and its accompanying cars.
The traffic warden claimed the reason for their attempt to ticket the cars was because they were parked illegally and obstructing pedestrians.
Speaking to ITV, funeral director Justin Burgess said they asked the traffic warden to “go for a walk around the block” to try and avoid upsetting the family of the deceased, but the warden refused.
Mr Burgess said: “It’s very limited where you can park funeral vehicles to get access to a church. This particular church is on the side of a road.
“That’s the only place there is to park. I came out at the end of a service. I saw the traffic warden there, and he got his little pad out to start ticketing us, and I said ‘You’ve got to be joking’.”
As the row continued, both the family and the vicar tried to talk the warden out of giving the cortege a ticket. Mr Burgess said that their discussion was able to help the situation.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Welwyn Hatfield Council told ITV: “The contractor requested that a vehicle parked on a pedestrian crossing’s zig-zag lines, obstructing the view of pedestrians and approaching traffic, be moved to a safer location.
“While we do operate a dispensation for funeral vehicles, no vehicle can be given a dispensation to park on zig-zags. This poses a safety risk to people crossing the road and could result in a serious accident.
“The funeral party was not present when the contractor initially requested the vehicle to be moved, and we want to reiterate that no parking tickets were issued. We are deeply regretful that this situation caused distress to the funeral party, and we have reached out to the family directly.”
Express.co.uk has approached Welwyn Hatfield Council for further information.
