A woman who walked across the road to buy her pay and display slip found herself with a £40 fine.

When Mandy Turner, an office manager of Heming Road, Edgware, put money into the pay and display machine where she had parked on Stonegrove, Edgware, she found it wasn't working, so bought a ticket from the machine across the road instead.

But she was unaware that the centre of Stonegrove is the boundary between the boroughs of Barnet and Harrow, which meant her Harrow pay and display slip was not valid on the Barnet side of the road.

On appealing to Barnet Council, she was advised to pay it anyway to stop it increasing.

However, after paying it her appeal for the fine to be cancelled was rejected. The council insisted that the pay and display machine would have shown the relevant council logo.

Ms Turner said: "We are law-abiding people, so when one machine wasn't working we went to the other one and got a ticket there. I paid not once, but twice. Who would even look for what logo is on the machine?

"Even if I'd seen the logo, it never would have registered that I couldn't buy a ticket from it."

A Barnet Council spokesman said: "In this case, as the driver has made an effort to buy a ticket, the penalty charge notice issued will be cancelled.

"A telephone number for drivers to call if a pay and display machine is not working is stated on all pay and display machines in Barnet. In this situation we would advise drivers to use this number so the council is aware of this sort of problem."

On hearing the charge had been cancelled, Ms Turner said: "That's all very well, but I've always said it's not about the £40.

"What about all my inconvenience, the phone calls, my time and effort?

"I'd like to know why they said no to me but yes once I got in touch with a newspaper. I'm still furious that they could do this to people."