Newport gardener ticketed while helping old lady with shopping during lockdown

Chris Medlicott, who works as a gardener, received the ticket in St Julians during the nationwide lockdown earlier this year.

He had been able to continue his work throughout the period due to working by himself and generally keeping a safe distance from others.

"Ninety per cent of my customers are elderly so it brightened their day," he said, explaining that during lockdown he had been doing as much shopping for his customers as gardening.

"One woman was ill and so I did her shopping for her," he said.

"It was not Covid, more of a sickness bug.

"Buses and all sorts come up her road (Sutton Street) so I decided to pull up on the pavement outside her door.

"Cars were parked up the whole road in a similar way."

However, despite parking among other cars, Mr Medlicott returned "not 10 minutes later" to find a parking ticket attached to his vehicle.

"I was furious," he said.

"I spent ages driving around to find the traffic warden but I couldn’t find them."

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Mr Medlicott then asked his son to email Newport City Council to explain the situation and the reason he had parked where he did.

"I thought they’d find leeway in the current situation," he said.

"Nothing. They doubled the fine."

He then emailed a second time, asking whether he could instead donate the sum to charity.

"They said ‘tough’ and doubled it again," he said.

"It’s now £150, and they’ve threatened to send the bailiffs round."

Mr Medlicott says he is still not going to pay the fine, out of principle.

"Normally, I would’ve held my hands up and paid," he said.

"There was no-one on the street back then and I was helping someone in need during lockdown."

Newport City Council were contacted for comment.