A coach driver was hit with a parking ticket when he pulled up outside a school to drop off more than 70 children after a day trip.
Kevin Dulson was given the ticket after he parked his double-decker on the zig-zag lines outside Medlock Primary School in Ardwick.
He said he had stopped outside the gates for just a few moments and there was nowhere else to drop off the children safely.
But his coach was photographed by a traffic warden and bosses at Kings Coaches were sent a £70 fine – which was cancelled because of an ‘error’.
The news comes days after another driver at the Dukinfield-based firm was given a ticket after dashing into a swimming baths to help a little boy.
Kevin, 45, said: "I was trying to get as close to the gates as possible to make it safe for them. Then I saw the traffic warden.
"I can’t understand why traffic wardens are doing this. If it wasn’t for companies like ours, children wouldn’t be able to go anywhere."
Another driver at the firm, Terence Gomm, was given a parking ticket earlier after taking children to a swimming baths. He ran into Ashton Pools to return a swimming kit to a boy who had left it on the coach.
Terence, 47, said he was away from the lay-by for a matter of moments but returned to find the warden writing out a ticket.
Coach firm owner Tony King said: "It’s ridiculous. We were only dropping children off after a school trip. It’s a bit silly. I think traffic wardens are being told to book anything. It’s getting to the stage where you can’t do your job. They’ll be booking funeral cars next."
Mr King said the time, date and the make of the bus were all wrong on the parking ticket.
The parking warden took a photograph of the bus, which Mr King says, shows it was indicating to leave.
A Manchester council spokesman said: "This was a double-decker bus which had parked on zig-zag lines close to a pedestrian crossing, causing potentially serious problems.
"There was sufficient space for the bus to park elsewhere without endangering children, and we can’t tolerate this sort of dangerous parking near schools, as parents regularly tell us that they’ve had enough of this.
"However, on this instance we’ve cancelled the ticket due to an error while it was being issued, but we will continue to enforce outside schools in the future."
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Its no wonder why people dont like Traffic wardens really!
A bit silly of the driver to park on Zig Zag white lines though. Basic highway code and he failed.
QUICK SOMEBODY CATCH HOLD OF THIS TRAFFIC WARDEN AND GIVE HIM A TICKET FOR NOT USEING HIS BRAIN.
Traffic wardens do these silly things because they were born with no brains.
ticket is illegal if details are not correct.and has to be quashed by law. but surely the warden had some initial training for his job.its not rocket science how to write a ticket.so no point in trying to be a jobsworth if you cant do the job.
So take it it ok for someone to stop there to let out there kids on the way to school or to pick them up. the bus a car it the same in the eyes of the law.
It is amazing how many tickets MCC cancel when challenged. They obviously are knowingly targetting innocent motorists knowing that most will just pay up.
Manchester City Council: YOU ARE SHAMEFUL.
hopefully when the cuts really start to bite these evil people will get laid off,you must have to have a sadistic streak to even think about being one.
I think it is really quite simple if you don't want a ticket don't park on
THE YELLOW LINES !?
Parking on zig zags is dangerous! that is why they are there in the first place! It is just a shame that they dont seem to notice taxi drivers or parents dropping kids off at school!
Mind you these two things usually occur at the same time!
Is this news or a (second) advert for Kings Coaches?
"Mr King said the time, date and the make of the bus were all wrong on the parking ticket." Which is presumably why it was cancelled, so why go to the papers about it?
An £80 fine last week (which admittedly did seem a bit harsh), a quashed fine this week and thousands of pounds worth of free advertising. No doubt Mr King will be instructing his drivers to park on zebra crossings next week for some more free publicity. Wise up MEN and stop reporting this rubbish.
Zig Zags are not like double yellow lines, it's a three point motoring offence & there is no excuse for parking on them. I wonder just how much of the crossing this driver blocked, and how dangerous he made the crossing in doing so. I didn't think that traffic wardens had the power to issue a fixed penalty notice, and that only Police could do that which might be the reason why the ticket was cancelled.
Where are these wardens when it comes to the mad mothers intimidating other drivers in their 4X4s and parking wherever they feel like outside school gates?
There would have been a bus stop within 20-30 yards of the school which is where he should have dropped them. As you are told in your training sunhine, 'the driver should not open his doors other than at designated bus stops'. Very lucky that the traffic warden was also an idiot and also failed to do his job properly.
Common sense is not as common as you think when dealing with local authorities. Even more so when it's Manchester!!