A divorced father-of-two was forced to take drastic action to prove his ex-wife was dead when he was threatened by bailiffs over unpaid parking fines she had allegedly run up.

John Walker, 40, of Willow Rise, Thorpe Willoughby, near Selby, North Yorkshire, turned up at York City Council offices clutching an urn containing ex-wife Zitta's, 44, ashes to convince officials that she was dead.

Mrs Walker died in January after a two-year battle with breast cancer.

But despite selling her Peugeot 405 for scrap two years earlier, she was still being sent parking fines.

Mr Walker said the final straw came when he was sent summonses for two unpaid £90 fines despite having sent a copy of his ex-wife's death certificate to York Council ten days after her death.

"That's when I flipped my lid, so I took the casket down to show them," he said.

Mr Walker said that with the casket sitting on the desk between them, the official dealing with the case, became very apologetic.

''He said that was sufficient proof but that he did not think the ashes were essential. I did it because I just couldn't stand the situation any more."

The problem began when Mrs Walker sent off the registration form to the DVLA but it never arrived and she remained the registered owner.

Mr Walker said he spotted the car in York with the same tax disc as when his wife sold it and reported it to the police.

Mr Walker, who lives with his two daughters, Nicola, 16, and Leanne, 12, said the situation had caused the family a great deal of distress.

A York City Council spokesman insisted they had dealt with the matter "absolutely by the book" and had pursued Mrs Walker for payment as she was the registered owner of the car.

''No documentary evidence has ever been provided to say there was a change of ownership," he said.