Driver made bankrupt over £18,000 parking fines

Paralegal Claire Williams, 27, ran up the huge bill in only a year by parking where she shouldn't have in the centre of Aberdeen.

The cash-strapped city council took legal action against her to try to recoup the cash and won a sequestration order at the sheriff court.

Now she's been declared bankrupt, and also has to fork out thousands of pounds in court fees.

Parking ticket campaigner Barrie Segal, of appealnow.com, was stunned by the case. He said: "This is extraordinary. I've never come across this before.

"I don't understand how these sorts of figures could have arisen, but I don't think there is much she can do about it now.

"It has gone so far I think her only option will be to throw herself at the mercy of the local authority."

Miss Williams works at a law firm in Aberdeen city centre, where car parking is limited and expensive.

She claimed she did have a parking permit before she moved back to her hometown of Pitmedden in Aberdeenshire.

After that, she started amassing 60 fines for her black Volkswagen Beetle.

Miss Williams said she intended to pay back everything she owed. When the huge debt first came to light, she said: "I can't afford parking - I can't afford anything.

"I have some debt problems and to be honest, parking fines are not at the front of my mind."

At an Aberdeen Sheriff Court hearing yesterday, the council was awarded a sequestration order. Miss Williams wasn't represented.

She now has a chance to appeal the petition. If she chooses not to, then all her assets will be divided up and sold to pay off her debts.

Miss Williams also has to pay the council's legal costs, which are now being calculated.