A man who campaigned for parking permits in his street is threatening court action after being given a fine.

Paul Grant, of Kingsley Avenue in Borehamwood, campaigned for two years to have parking restrictions in the street - which is near Elstree and Borehamwood railway station and was often used by commuters.

Despite having parking permits for his family’s three cars, he has now been slapped with a £70 fine after his permit fell from its holder.

Hertsmere Borough Council’s terms and conditions state that residential permits must be clearly displayed to be valid, and officers will check through all windows for a permit that may have fallen off.

In Mr Grant’s case, the officer had noted the empty permit holder attached to the windscreen but did not see the fallen permit.

A spokesman for Hertsmere Borough Council said: “Although a permit is issued for a particular registration they are not electronically linked like tax discs so a Civil Enforcement Officer does not automatically know whether a car has a permit or not.

"A permit was not displayed and therefore a ticket was issued. For a permit to be valid it must be on display and therefore a contravention has taken place.

“We received a formal representation from Mr Grant so we are currently in a 28-day period, which ends on 10 December, whereby he can either decide to pay the £70 or inform the Traffic Penalty Tribunal that he wishes to submit an appeal. It would then be up to an adjudicator to decide the outcome.”

The 52-year-old believes that as permits are linked to number plates, they should be autimatically recognised – similar to the new tax disc system – or that permit holders should only have to pay a small administration fee should their valid permit have fallen out.

He said: “I fought for two years to get parking restrictions in the road - met with the council, lobbied neighbours to sign a petition. Eventually after much work I succeeded and a few years ago resident bays were placed into my road and surrounding roads.

“Now, it is very frustrating that the council is penalising people. I understand that something needs to be done, like a warning to the household or an administration charge, but I just want to see something done for residents in Hertsmere.

“I am not arguing the fact that my permit was not displayed, but it just fell out. I find this unfair.”

Mr Grant has now approached the independent penalty tribunal and intends to take the council to court for the reimbursement of the £70 penalty.