A PLUMBER who left his van to help a woman who had been knocked off her bike was rewarded with a parking ticket.

Danny Young and business partner Paul Middlemass had parked their van to unload tools when they saw the accident happen outside the Moat House Hotel, in North Street, York, on November 4.

Mr Young, of Osbaldwick, York, phoned an ambulance and helped wrap the woman in blankets.

But when he returned to his van, he found a traffic warden had handed him a £30 ticket for parking illegally.

He said: "If we thought we were not needed, we would have got back in the van, but the girl was in pain."

Mr Young said he had passed the ticket on to his employers, D&A Construction, which has appealed against the penalty.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said it was investigating the situation.

"Obviously, our parking attendant would not have been aware of what Mr Young was doing when they found that his van was illegally parked," she said.

The cyclist was taken to York Hospital but was not seriously injured.