Mark Knight, from Lostock Hall, regularly parks on a single yellow line in Hammond's Row to attend band practice at a nearby pub.

But when he returned at 10.20pm, National Clamps had put a ticket on the windscreen of his Ford Escort demanding £80.

Despite letters demanding payment and threatening him with debt collectors, he has vowed not to pay.

He said: "It's public highway with restrictions from 8am to 6pm. The yellow line ran under my van. When I came out at 10.30pm, the fine was on the car telling me to pay £80."

The Preston-based firm has sent Mr Knight two letters telling him to cough up. But when he wrote back by recorded delivery, they did not reply.

The garage boss, from Doodstone Avenue, added: "I have contacted the council and police and have copies of the council's road adoptions for that area to prove they are in the wrong.

"They keep sending me invoices, yet they will not reply to my letters because I haven't included a self-addressed envelope. I've told them I'm not paying.

"They are just bullies."

Now Mr Knight's band, called Sabre, has changed its rehearsal venue from Last Orders in Church Street to the Pheasant Pluckers in Charnock Richard.

A spokesman for National Clamps said they would look at the photographs of the van again and investigate.

But she added: "If any of the car was on private land, technically it's trespass."

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said Hammond's Row and the pavement were public highway. But he added: "It depends exactly where he was parked.

"Although it is public highway there is also a car park. It's a matter for National Clamps."

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