A PENSIONER was stunned when a parking row that started in Northwich town centre resulted in his car being clamped on his own drive.

Blue badge holder Dennis Antipas-Cheshire, who has to use crutches since two discs slipped in his back after an accident, was fined when he parked on yellow lines in Market Street.

He appealed the parking ticket as he said that he had displayed his badge and set the clock but fees mounted up to £422 and Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) passed the case on to Jacobs debt recovery service.

"I disputed the parking fine because I have evidence and witnesses to contest it," said Dennis, who lives in Middlewich.

"One of the major pieces of evidence I have is a blue badge.

"I parked the car in a designated area for the length set on the blue badge and the council decided to ignore it.

"The matter went to Northampton court where they said 'Dennis Antipas-Cheshire, you are innocent'.

"I put it to the council but they disregarded it.

"Finally I woke up at 8.30am on August 6, four-and-a-half months after the parking fine was issued, and my car was clamped on my personal drive.

"I'm an OAP and my car was clamped while I was asleep.

"The clamp disappeared later in the day but they left a note through the letterbox and put a huge ugly notice on the windscreen."

The note said CWAC had a warrant issued by Northampton Road Traffic Enforcement Centre to remove the vehicle for non-payment of the penalty ticket.

CWAC has since cancelled the fine.

Maria Byrne, head of place operations for CWAC, said: "The council is committed to tackling blue badge fraud in order to protect legitimate blue badge holders, and so it is really important that valid blue badges are clearly visible.

"In this case, the blue badge was incorrectly displayed and none of the details including the expiry date and badge number could be viewed, resulting in a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) being issued.

"Mr Antipas-Cheshire did not keep in full correspondence with us and the fees mounted up as the PCN progressed through the system.

"The charge was cancelled after further detailed information was received about the blue badge.

"We would urge anyone in receipt of a PCN to read all the details on the reverse of the notice, as well as any correspondence received from the council, and to respond accordingly in a timely way."