A disabled pensioner with a heart condition spent six months fighting a Parking ticket he should never have been given.

Cyril Burtenshaw suffered sleepless nights through stress and worry.

He made a dozen telephone calls to Brighton and Hove Council objecting to the ticket and eventually had to produce a witness statement and photographic evidence before the council conceded it had made a mistake.

He was sent back his £30 fine but there was no written apology for the distress caused.

Mr Burtenshaw, 73, said: "I'm absolutely disgusted. It was really upsetting and I lost a lot of sleep.

"I should have received an apology for their mistake and compensation for all the work I had to do - I don't really want any money but it's the principle.

"Why should I have to spend money getting photographs developed and making all those calls when it was their mistake?"

Mr Burtenshaw, who lives in sheltered accommodation in Hollingdean, Brighton, complained about his treatment after reading in The Argus on Wednesday how a parking attendant slapped a ticket on a limousine waiting to take grieving relatives to a funeral in Hove.

Mr Burtenshaw, a divorcee with four children and two grandchildren, parked his Rover in Argyle Road to visit to his son's home last August.

The retired sheet metal worker parked in a bay with no restrictions but returned to find a ticket on his windscreen.

He said: "I was shocked. I could have used my disabled-driver badge but I knew I could park there with no problems for as long as I wanted."

Mr Burtenshaw paid the fine and lodged an appeal. He got his money back in November and received notification he had won his case in February.

But he is still angry and said: "I suffered a great deal of stress over this."

Parking policing in the city was controlled by the city council at the time.

A spokeswoman said: "The council apologises for the length of time it took to resolve Mr Burtenshaw's case but it was not straightforward.

"Initially, based on the evidence we had at the time, the council rejected Mr Burtenshaw's appeal against his ticket.

"Mr Burtenshaw contested our position but before we had completed our investigations he decided to pay the ticket on November 11.

"Our parking office then advised Mr Burtenshaw of his options and he decided he would pursue the appeal rather than paying for the ticket and we processed the refund on November 19.

"The council then continued with Mr Burtenshaw's appeal, collecting additional information from our own parking and highways staff and from Mr Burtenshaw himself.

"In the light of this additional evidence, the council decided to quash the ticket.