A motorist slapped with a £25 parking fine has won compensation – claiming the ticket’s adhesive damaged the car’s windscreen.

The £41 settlement – leaving the driver £16 in profit – is today revealed among a number of bizarre legal claims made against Canterbury City Council.

The majority of claims made over the past two years involve damage to cars and property caused by falling trees and tree roots, KentOnline can report.

One payout of more than £200 was made after a “lamp post access door fell onto a car in a car park”.

Another, totalling £1,058, is a bill for damage caused by a falling car park barrier.

A Freedom of Information request by the Taxpayers’ Alliance lays bare the extent of claims against local authorities across the country.

Its investigation reveals that Canterbury City Council forked out £13,320 in the 2013/2014 financial year.

"The allegation of damage to a windscreen following the issuing of a penalty charge notice was looked into fully..." council spokesman Rob Davies.

In the following 12 months the outlay dropped significantly to £2,509.

TPA spokesman Harry Fairhead said: “Where the authority has paid out or made an excess payment there is a direct cost to taxpayers.

“Where the insurer has paid out this will be reflected in higher premiums for the authority and greater cost to the taxpayer.”

Of the claims made against Canterbury City Council, the highest payout was £6,574 after a child’s foot was “stuck in a gap in a disabled lift”.

The lowest was for £41 in the 2014/2015 financial year, relating to the parking ticket.

Council spokesman Rob Davies says the incident was a “one-off” and the authority has not changed the type of adhesive it uses.

“The allegation of damage to a windscreen following the issuing of a penalty charge notice was looked into fully,” said Mr Davies.

“The claim was settled and the complainant received the payment from our insurance company.”

Mr Davies said the authority faces an average of 90 compensation claims every year.

In the past two years it had settled in 14 cases.

He said: “If we believe we are at fault, we do not make people jump through hoops, but equally if we believe the claim to be spurious, we will defend our position.

“It is inevitable, given the large amount of property and land we own and the wide range of services we provide, that there are occasional incidents where people will want to make a claim against us.”

Nationally £104 million was paid out by councils in the two-year period.

Top of the list was Lambeth Borough Council in London, which shelled out £5,264,071.