POLICE have apologised after a van remained parked in a disabled bay for two days.

The CCTV unit was parked on the corner of High Street and Neville Road in Rottingdean from Saturday until Sunday afternoon without receiving a parking ticket.

Residents questioned why it was there and Phil Saunders, director of Screen Solutions, managed to snap a picture.

The 48-year-old said: “I only knew about it because I saw people talking on Facebook– so I went down to get a picture.

“It was there over the weekend and left a little while after I took the photo.

“It was empty, just parked up and not doing anything that I could see.

“My nephew has muscular dystrophy and he is constantly finding people parking in disabled bays – but for it to be the police just takes the biscuit.

“I know if I parked somewhere I shouldn’t have in Rottingdean, I would have certainly been ticketed.”

He added: “I think the rear wheel on the pavement makes it even worse.”

Inspector Paul Ransome, from Sussex Police, said: “A CCTV van was deployed to the High Street in Rottingdean as part of a preventative measure against break-ins and suspicious activity around a local shop over the last few weeks.

“Unfortunately, the only clear line of sight was from the disabled parking bay and the driver decided to leave the van there overnight on May 24.

“We did receive two calls pointing out that this was unacceptable and the van was removed around 12pm on Sunday.

“While this was an action carried out with the best intentions of crime prevention and local community reassurance, we accept that in these circumstances it was wrong and we apologise to anyone who was inconvenienced.”

A council spokesperson said: “The area where the disabled bay is situated is outside the controlled parking zones and therefore not routinely patrolled by enforcement officers.

“Members of the public can report vehicles they think may be illegally parked by filling in the online form on our website, or phoning our enforcement line on 0845 603 5469 (option 3).”