The owner of an Aberystwyth furniture store is “livid” after being issued a ticket by the council for parking in a loading bay to load his van.

On 24 January, Frank Bridle parked in a loading bay outside Barclays, in Aberystwyth, to pick up goods from his furniture shop around the corner, Franks Complete House Furnishers.

The parking bay sign states only “goods vehicles loading” was to take place between 8am to 1pm, Saturday to Monday, and that vehicles can only stay for an hour.

Despite Frank going to his shop, picking up goods - electric light bulbs and catalogues - to be taken to his Tywyn shop, and returning after 20 minutes, he was issued a ticket by a parking warden on the premise that he had not been seen to be loading in the last 10 minutes.

“It’s hard enough in this current climate to do business, Ceredigion Council should be helping businesses and encouraging trade. And I feel that’s not happening,” Frank said.

“My grievance is that nowhere on the sign does it say that they have to observe you loading for ten minutes. I had to park on Terrace Road. Despite there being a bay outside Morris Brothers for unloading and loading goods vehicles, 8am to 1pm, those were occupied so I couldn’t park there. In fact, there were cars parked there that shouldn’t have been there.

“I had to find somewhere to park to pick up the goods. I go to Tywyn on a Monday so I needed to get the stuff, it wasn’t a lot so I was able to carry it around the corner.

“So I walked back to the shop to get what I wanted, in the meantime I took a phone call from my customer. I was about 20 minutes.

“I am livid. It’s hard enough to survive, even customers are finding it difficult to park anywhere.”

Frank said this incident is symptomatic of a wider lack of parking issue in the town.

“It’s more than this personal issue. It’s about parking in the town for general traders and the public.

“If they bring the road closures back, in my opinion, Ceredigion Council should provide free parking and a park and ride somewhere.”

Frank appealed the ticket on 28 January, but this was rejected.

A spokesperson for Ceredigion County Council said loading bays are for a “specific class of vehicle”: “PCNs can also be issued to vehicles parked in loading bays during their restricted hours, be the bays for a specific class of vehicle or not, where no loading or unloading activity is observed taking place within a 10 minute observation time.

“Loading or unloading activity should be continuous while vehicles are parked within these types of bays and once the loading or unloading activity is completed vehicles should move from the bays to allow others the benefit of their use.”

Frank added: “When you get booked for parking in a loading bay for 20 minutes and it doesn’t say anything about the 10 minutes rule, how are you meant to know that?

“The ticket isn’t the point, if I have to pay it I have to. I think it’s the principle here. It would be interesting to find out how you are supposed to know about this rule.”