A PARKING ticket issued to an NHS nurse while on his duties in Tavistock has been overturned.

In November Andrew Ford, of Plymouth, paid £3.50 for four hours at Bedford Square, Tavistock, using a mobile phone app called RingGo.

But when he returned after visiting patients he saw that there was a parking ticket for non-payment.

Unknown to Mr Ford the app defaults automatically to any old cars previously owned and registered on the app.

He appealed to the council with all details of what had happened and a copy of the receipt to show he had paid, along with screen shots from the app to show the mistake, but Mr Ford was still asked to pay.

However, at Tavistock Town Council's full meeting this month, members heard from town and borough Cllr Philip Sanders that the money had been refunded to Mr Ford.

Cllr Sanders said he and other councillors were 'appalled' when they heard of the situation.

Cllr Sanders said: 'We asked the officers to review the situation baring in mind this gentleman, although he put the wrong car details in, had actually paid for the time he parked the vehicle in town.

'It was a genuine human error on this occasion.'

A spokesman for West Devon Borough Council said: 'We did look again at the penalty charge notice and, on this occasion, we were able to cancel the notice and refund the money.

'Following this case, we have reviewed our policy and agreed that in such circumstances we will cancel the first penalty charge notice only and issue a warning.

'It remains the responsibility of motorists to keep the details on their RingGo account up to date as we can only review a penalty charge notice once on the grounds of human error.'

On hearing the good news, Mr Ford said: 'It meant victory to the little person and triumph for common sense!

'It also goes to show that it is always worth pursuing something if you feel you have been wronged.'