Outrage has been sparked after a mother was given a fine after her car broke down in a taxi rank.

Stacey Freeland was confronted by a traffic warden after moving her Vauxhall Zafira to safety after it lost power in Folkestone.

Ms Freeland had been travelling along Guildhall Street with her two children when the car ran into trouble.

Her father Andrew Freeland said that she had called him immediately after managing to move the car out of the live lane.

He said: "She was at the pelican crossing just before the taxi rank waiting for people to cross.

"When the lights went green she pulled away, but the car stalled and had a total power loss.

"She managed to get off the pelican crossing and crawl to the taxi rank, before immediately calling me as I'm a mechanic; because I was out walking and couldn't get back quickly, I told her to call Green Flag."

Having arranged for a tow truck to come and retrieve them, Ms Freeland and her children stayed in the car to wait for it to arrive.

However, around 10 minutes later they were challenged by a traffic warden.

Mr Freeland explained: "The warden came up, tapped on the window and told her 'you can't park here'.

"Stacey very politely explained she had broken down and showed him the green flag text confirmation.

"When he insisted that she move it, she started the car and it just stalled straight away.

'We're all just absolutely gobsmacked, I think everyone is...'

"She had a four and 10-year-old in the car, and she was pleading with him to understand but he wasn't having any of it.

"A taxi driver who was also there was trying to explain it, but the warden just said 'tough, not my problem', and wrote out the ticket."

Mr Freeland added: "We're just all absolutely gobsmacked, I think everyone is.

"I can't believe that the council would employ someone so incompetent, so without a sense of humanity; if not firing, he certainly needs some training on how to deal with people."

A council spokesperson said, “If the car owner appeals through our normal channels providing evidence of a vehicle breakdown then this should be resolved swiftly.

“All motorists have the right to appeal if they are unhappy about PCNs issued to their vehicles. This can be done by visiting folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/parking

“Our parking team will consider all representations in accordance with the legal requirements.”

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