A council worker is threatening to go on hunger strike after the local authority set bailiffs on him over an unpaid parking ticket he got while doing his job.

Anthony Knowles, 55, is facing a whopping £888 bill to retrieve his belongings from debt collectors sent by Sutton Council after he got a £60 fine for inadvertently parking illegally while working for the local authority on Wallington farmers market.

He said he had bought a £2.40 pay-and-display ticket to cover his time at the market but it fell off his dashboard and out of view - meaning a parking warden slapped a ticket on his car.

After getting the fine Mr Knowles went to the civic centre and showed his employers the £2.40 parking slip - that the council would normally reimburse as part of his expenses - in the hope they would see the mistake and drop the fine.

But despite pleading with his bosses on multiple occasions the council refused to accept his explanation, said the ticket still stands, and last week sent bailiffs to his home.

The bailiffs raided the 55-year-old's home in The Crescent, Epsom, and took hundreds of pounds worth of goods including several hedge trimmers, chainsaws and other tools he uses in his other job as a gardener, as well as antique toy cars, his DVD collection, a bottle of Jack Daniels, his computer and more.

He said: "It's a disgrace. They've sent the bailiffs round to my house to take all this stuff - including the tools of my trade - over a £2.40 parking ticket.

"The worst thing is I'm employed by the council to work on the market, I have been since '99. They offered me the chance to pay £30. I took the ticket in to them at the offices and hoped they'd see that I had the ticket and waive the fine but apparently that isn't the case.

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Mr Knowles and the shed the bailiffs raided

"Suddenly the bailiffs come and they're raiding my house. I don't know what to do any more. I'm thinking about going on hunger strike because it seems they don't listen to sense."

Mr Knowles parked in the Shotfield Road car park from about 7.30am on December 8 last year while he worked on the farmers' market.

He put his ticket, which allowed him to park until 3pm, on display but says it became obscured and he was issued with a penalty notice saying he was parked illegally from 11.50am to 11.52am.

Mr Knowles' fine has now been increased to £828. To get his belongings back he must pay that plus a £60 handling charge.

If he does not the bailiffs will auction his belongings to raise the money. If they do not raise enough, they could come back and take more.

A council spokesman declined to comment on Mr Knowles' threats, saying: "While we do not discuss individual cases we are satisfied that a fine was properly issued in this case, supported by photographic evidence".

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