A TAXI driver has said he is prepared to go to court to fight a parking ticket that was issued to him for queueing for less than a minute to enter a taxi rank.

Driver Altaf Patel, of Tiger Taxi, claims he was waiting to enter the rank in Railway Road, Blackburn when he was slapped with the £50 charge.

He said he was in the taxi at the time and was there for about 30 seconds, while waiting to drive into the rank.

The father-of-three said he cannot afford the charge and has promised to fight Blackburn with Darwen Council who issued the ticket.

Mr Patel, 47, of Audley Range, Blackburn, said it is not the first time he has had to challenge the issuing of parking tickets.

He said: “The traffic warden has given me a ticket for not being parked correctly.

“I was in the queue trying to get into the rank.

“She has no right. It is a taxi rank and I wanted to come on to it.

“How can she issue that ticket in 30 seconds?

“I just can’t afford to pay it.

“I’m a taxi driver and have three kids to feed. How am I supposed to afford this charge?

“I started work at 8am this morning and after six hours I have made £25. I make £3 an hour.

“I am willing to take this to court if necessary. I am really angry about it.”

Charlie Oakes, of the Bolton-based Hackney Carriage Association, of which Mr Patel is a member, said: “There is a problem with that rank.

“It is signed for six vehicles but it is marked out for five so at the moment I do not believe this ticket is enforceable.

“I believe Mr Patel was at number six when he was given this ticket.

“There was no time elapsed.

“Unless they observed the vehicle for a certain amount of time, that warden cannot say for certain that a contravention has been committed because they have not observed the vehicle and therefore they cannot say if that taxi is waiting to pick somebody up or has just dropped somebody off.

“That is one of the problems and with the other issue with the rank it leads me to think the whole thing needs to be looked."

A spokeswoman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said: “This matter is currently within a legal process. If the vehicle driver or owner believes that the notice should not have been issued or that it was issued incorrectly, they have the right to appeal as per the guidance on the reverse of the notice.”