Police car given parking ticket while officers were making an arrest

A traffic warden issued a parking ticket to a police car after finding it parked in a taxi rank in Manchester City Centre.

Officers had parked the car there while responding to an incident on Portland Street, choosing the taxi rank as preferable to the bus lane.

A video of the traffic warden handing out the ticket has gone viral and the police have released a statement in response to it.

After the ticket had been issued, the police officers returned to the car and challenged the warden. While this happened one of the police officers was assaulted by a man who was later arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

Superintendent Chris Hill, of GMP’s City of Manchester division said: “Police officers deal with emergency incidents on a daily basis which sometimes means they have to contravene parking rules but they will always make every effort to minimise disruption and are trained to do so. 

“We understand that parking wardens follow lawful guidelines when issuing tickets and we are currently working with the council to address any procedures that could penalise officers responding to incidents.”

Was the warden right and should the officers have found a more appropriate place to park or should the police be able to park wherever necessary to respond as quickly as possible to incidents?

In this case it should come down to how urgently the officers needed to respond to the crime taking place, which will be examined when the police appeal the ticket.

Chris Hill said: “We will continue to work closely with our partners from Manchester City Council to ensure we take learnings from this incident.”