A ‘shocked’ Poppy Appeal collector in Burnham-On-Sea has been handed a £50 parking fine because he was a few minutes late while busily selling poppies in the town.

Mike Mansfield was handed the parking fine last week while raising funds for the Royal British Legion at the town’s Morrisons supermarket.

He told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I was just a few minutes late because of the high interest in buying the poppies.”

“I couldn’t believe it when I got back to my car and found a parking ticket on the windscreen. It was quite a shock, upsetting, and seems mean-spirited and unreasonable.”

Mike – who led Burnham’s remembrance ceremony at the town war memorial on Sunday – is appealing the fine via the district council, who own the car park.

Ruth Crosby, organiser of Burnham’s Poppy Appeal, said: “Mike is a long-standing member and collected over £400 for us this month in the run-up to Remembrance Day. We hope that the council’s contractor looks favourably on his appeal and will consider rescinding the parking ticket.”

However, Sam Taylor, a spokeswoman for Sedgemoor District Council, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Whilst Sedgemoor District Council are not aware of this specific case, as parking management in our car parks is sub-contracted, Somerset Parking Services staff are contracted to ticket vehicles without tickets, vehicles parked incorrectly or where tickets have expired.”

“All users of Sedgemoor car parks are subject to the parking regulations and charges advertised within each car park. Anyone wishing to complete charitable work or hold events within the car park, such as NHS screening vehicles, should contact the district council in good time in advance of the date to discuss parking arrangements, charges and gain permission.”

 
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