An Upminster driver has claimed a parking warden ticketed her car - despite her explaining it had broken down and been stuck for more than four hours. 

Lacy Lighterness said she was driving down Hornchurch High Street on January 9, having been food shopping at Lidl, when her vehicle stopped working. 

With the help of a group of men nearby, she said she was able to get her car pushed out of the road on to the pavement, just outside The Fatling pub, after which she contacted the RAC.  

What ensued was a wait of more than four hours, with Lacy stuck in what she described as “the most awkward place”. 

During that time, Lacy claimed two traffic wardens came by who decided not to ticket her car once she had explained her situation to them. 

When the RAC came out, she said they told her they would need a tow truck, meaning further delays. 

After about four-and-a-half hours, she said another traffic warden came by who decided to give her a ticket. 

She told the Recorder she explained to him that she could not move and even showed him her correspondence with the RAC, but to no avail. 

Lacy added she told him she had “spent my whole day sitting here”, though when she ran through the issues with her car, she claimed he told her: “A lot of people say that.” 

“In this day and age, cost of living, he just wanted to put a ticket on my car,” she claimed. 

“People are really struggling.” 

Lacy explained she was eventually able to get her husband and some of his friends to tow her away, after the RAC had told her a tow truck would not be available until late into the evening.

But she said the ticket added stress to an already infuriating day. 

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“I don’t think it’s necessary,” she said. 

She added she has put in an appeal against the ticket and is due to file a complaint against the traffic warden. 

A Havering Council spokesperson said: “Our officers are instructed to enforce any vehicle they feel is incorrectly parked.

"The case is currently on hold while we review the matter and if the penalty ticket was incorrectly issued or the person has mitigating grounds, the ticket will be cancelled.”