A driving instructor is furious after being slapped with a parking ticket while he went to get petrol after his car broke down.
Kelyon Ross was shocked when he returned to his fuel-depleted car with jerry cans from a nearby garage, to find a Brent Council traffic warden issuing him a ticket.
He was driving through Northwest London when he said his car “shuddered to a stop”.
“I just pulled in where I could and looked for somewhere to get petrol as I had a driving test coming up,” he told My London.
But when he returned to his vehicle, he found a man giving him a ticket.
“I asked him what he was doing but he just ignored me,” Keylon said.
“I guess he was just doing his job, but you’d think people at the council would take a second look after I explained the situation.”
Kelyon said he was “under pressure” to find somewhere quickly as he was on his way to take a client for their test.
He had nowhere else to stop, he explained, as he had run out of fuel.
Keylon's predicament comes as the fuel crisis continues to impact some parts of the country with shortages at the pumps, and depleted petrol stations causing long lines at those that are stocked.
Earlier this month military drivers were deployed to deliver fuel to forecourts, after being trained at haulier sites.
The Government has also announced that a temporary visa scheme to attract nearly 5,000 foreign food haulage drivers, which was due to expire on December 24, will be extended to the end of February. To date only 20 foreign visas have been issued., leaving a shorxtfall of thousands.
The scheme has drawn criticism for being slow-moving and not being likely to have an immediate-enough impact on fuel supplies and the stocking of supermarkets.
While Keylon noted that he had been parked on a single yellow line after his breakdown, he said he was not in a dangerous position.
He lodged an informal appeal outlining his predicament, but this was slapped down by council officials.
He claimed Brent Council said it “sympathised” with Kelyon’s circumstances but felt they should not “invalidate the penalty charge notice” as he should still have adhered to the parking rules in place.
He says he was told the councuk was “satisfied” with the traffic warden’s actions and would uphold the ticket.
Kelyon said he is considering whether to take the matter further and hopes to hear back from the council after submitting further evidence.
Brent Council has been contacted by The Mirror for comment.
