Funeral limousine given parking ticket in Edinburgh

A parking warden has given a ticket to a funeral limousine while it waited for people to leave a church service in Edinburgh.

Mourners were just about to leave St Andrew's and St George's church on George Street on Friday morning when the ticket was issued.

The warden called his supervisor after one of the funeral directors pointed out they were allowed to park there.

Edinburgh City Council has now cancelled the ticket.

Tim Purves, a director at William Purves Funeral Directors, told BBC Scotland news online the firm had never had a parking ticket on one of its vehicles since starting business 124 years ago.

He said: "All our vehicles are the same make, colour and have the sequenced number plates and were with the hearse so I would have thought a little bit of common sense would have prevailed.

"We have to park near the church so we can bring the coffin out but we always park in a manner that is safe and respectful."

The funeral directors were alerted to the ticket when an outraged member of the public started shouting at the warden and taking photographs of the scene.

Mr Purves said: "We were just about to bring the coffin out when we noticed the warden so one of my colleagues spoke to him to let him know.

"The warden was going to issue a second ticket but crossed to the other side of the road to call his supervisor about it.

"We couldn't hold up proceedings any more so we had to bring the coffin out and drive away."

The funeral director said he would be contacting the council about the matter and added: "We have never had a ticket on one of our funeral cars."

An Edinburgh City Council spokeswoman said: "This parking ticket was issued in error and has now been cancelled.

"We apologise for any distress or concern this has caused."