AN APOLOGY has been made by West Devon Borough Council after three parking tickets were issued in Tavistock by mistake on Remembrance Day.

The parking charge notices were issued to cars parked on double yellow lines in North Street on Sunday morning — but parking restrictions apply from Monday to Saturday only.

The borough council said it had since withdrawn the notices and was 'very sorry for causing any offence to anyone'.

A member of the public wrote to the Times expressing anger that civil enforcement officers were issuing tickets on Remembrance Day in any case. Mike Hooper described it as 'a gross lack of respect'.

'The Guildhall Car Park, which is free on Sundays, was taken out of commission to allow for the Remembrance Day service,' said Mr Hooper. 'Members of the public must be allowed to park somewhere and the insensitivity of the warden to ticket them, on a Sunday morning, is frankly outrageous.'

A spokesperson for the borough council said civil enforcement officers did work on Sundays because car parking charges did apply to Sundays in the authority's car parks but the council did use discretion in the case of events like Remembrance Day.

'These three parking notices were issued in error and have been withdrawn,' she said.

'We are very supportive of community events and no other notices were issued on that day.

'The civil enforcement officer in question was advising people where they could park and that if the service overran he would not be issuing tickets.'