'Jobsworth' traffic warden tried to ticket funeral cortège during Welwyn Garden City service

A grieving family was left outraged after a traffic warden tried to issue a funeral cortege with parking tickets during a service.

Mourners emerged from the send-off at Welwyn Garden City United Reform Church to find the warden taking pictures of the hearse and two limousines.

The funeral director asked the enforcer to "go for a walk around the block" to avoid the family of the deceased becoming upset.

But the warden said the cortège was illegally parked and was obstructing the view of pedestrians so continued to photograph the number plates.

The funeral cortège was able to leave before a parking ticket was issued.

Funeral director Justin Burgess said: "It’s very limited where you can park funeral vehicles to get access to a church. This particular church is on the side of a road. That’s the only place there is to park."

He added: “I came out at the end of a service. I saw the traffic warden there, and he got his little pad out to start ticketing us, and I said ‘you’ve got to be joking’.

“I said ‘we’re only going to be 10-15 minutes more, can you just go for a walk round the block?’

“He said ‘no’. I said, ‘have a bit of compassion, this is a funeral.’ And he started remonstrating with me.”

Mr Burgess said the traffic warden called for a colleague to join him and rang a call-handler who told him to issue the ticket as they were "illegally parked".

Once the service ended, the family and vicar came out to appeal to the warden.

Mr Burgess added: “Unfortunately, in the meantime, the next of kin came out and they were really upset.

“She said ‘are you seriously going to put a ticket on my mum’s hearse? I can’t believe you’re doing this to us.’”

Mr Burgess, who runs JJ Burgess & Sons funeral directors, said: "Had we not stood and argued all that time we would have had a ticket, but we just argued and argued, by which time we were ready to leave."

A spokesman for Welwyn Hatfield Council said: "The contractor [warden] requested that a vehicle parked on a pedestrian crossing's zig-zag lines, obstructing the view of pedestrians and approaching traffic, be moved to a safer location.

"While we do operate a dispensation for funeral vehicles, no vehicle can be given a dispensation to park on zig-zags.

"This poses a safety risk to people crossing the road and could result in a serious accident.

"The funeral party was not present when the contractor initially requested the vehicle to be moved, and we want to reiterate that no parking tickets were issued."

A page on the Welwyn Hatfield Council website lists parking exemptions and dispensations, and says the council has discretion when it comes to funeral vehicles, including the hearse and cortège.

The spokesman added: "We are deeply regretful that this situation caused distress to the funeral party, and we have reached out to the family directly.

"We have also asked the contractors to review their processes and training, to ensure that all officers can convey safety implications clearly and with the utmost sensitivity."

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