The ticket was issued under The Traffic Management Act 2004, Section 78. More importantly...I've just opened an e-mail from the Council to inform me that although the ticket was correctly given, on this occasion they have cancelled it....but they won't if it happens again. It looks like a bit of honesty and not trying to be clever actually works.

Many thanks, I'll do that.

Thanks everybody for the comments, they have helped me decide to appeal. I'll post again when I know the result.

See my last comment....I agree that he had little option but to issue a ticket. But in these days of being precise about the wording of things, the ticket itself was clearly on display and people have escaped prosecution on technicalities like that. Never mind, I've e-mailed the Council parking section to appeal, in the hope that they will use the discretion they have the power to use in these cases ....and I haven't tried to be funny about the wording, just honest about the circumstances of a genuine mistake.

I agree the attendant had little option, but I've written an appeal giving the reason for my mistake. It's the only time I've ever put a ticket on the wrong way, but I had genuinely just been to visit my 92 year old Dad, who had suffered a stroke and my mind just wasn't on much else today. I've asked the Council to use their powers of discretion.

Today, I paid for a 2 hour parking ticket for a Council Car Park. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and went and pushed the ticket into the plastic windscreen clip the wrong way around and left the car without noticing it. When I returned nearly 2 hours later to buy another ticket, my car had a PCN notice stuck to the windscreen which cited "parking in a car park without clearly displaying a valid ticket....." This had been issued about half way through my parking time. I went to the warden's office and he said it might be worth appealing as I clearly had a ticket. When I got home and re-read the PCN and thought.. ..Was the ticket valid? - YES. Was the ticket clearly on display? - YES (it was back to front, but it was clearly on display) Not sure what to do...pay the £25 or appeal?