Graham Addison, who found his parking fine had been paid twice. DA4571PARKING Scrooges have refused to acknowledge the generosity of a Good Samaritan who a shopper believes came to his aid after he was given a ticket.

When Graham Addison returned to his car in Catherine Street, Salisbury, halfway through a Christmas shopping spree, he found he had been given a £30 penalty notice.

"It was fair enough - I hadn't realised but the front of my car was over the lines," he said.

"I still had lots of shopping to do and I knew I couldn't get another ticket, so I just went back to the shops."

But when he went to collect his car later that night, the ticket had mysteriously disappeared.

"I thought it must have blown off in the wind or something, so I phoned the council the next day and paid the fine on my credit card," he said.

The 42-year-old from Lower Bemerton thought no more of the incident until Salisbury district council's parking department contacted him a few days later to say he had paid twice.

"It turned out someone had already settled the fine for me," he said.

Mr Addison thinks a kind-hearted friend came to his rescue after spotting the ticket on his distinctive lime-green Citron Zara, but the council is refusing to give him a refund saying the owner of the vehicle must pay the fine.

"I've had a difficult time recently because my mother died and I really think someone was trying to make life a bit easier for me," he said.

"It's such a shame - if someone did pay it for me, then I really want to thank them, but it hasn't done any good because the council has pocketed the lot."

Mr Addison said there was a possibility that troublemakers stuck his ticket on another vehicle whose owner unwittingly paid the fine, but he is keen to solve the mystery.

"I just hope that, if we do have a good parking Samaritan here in Salisbury, their kindness doesn't go to waste," he said.

A council spokesman said the owner of any vehicle that has been given a ticket is responsible for the fine and if someone else has a receipt to prove they paid Mr Addison's penalty they are eligible for a refund.