Fossil man blasts council's Jurassic parking policy

An academic who delivers fossils to museums claims he and his colleagues are being persecuted by a council after it slapped 17 parking tickets on them in the past year.

Dr Gareth Howell said he had exchanged 71 emails, 12 letters and more than 20 phone calls with Haringey. "I'm starting to feel paranoid," he added.

"There are 1,323 museums on our UK database, we have only ever received one ticket outside Haringey. I am concerned they are using the department purely as a way of gathering funds."

The 67-year-old said he had successfully fought some fines, including an incident when he was forced to use a bus lane to avoid an accident.

"You might expect this kind of thing in Stalin's Russia but not in a democracy," he added.

A Haringey spokesman said: "Drivers who park illegally can expect a penalty notice."