Penalties issued to motorists whose residential parking permits expired will not have to pay the fines because of a council error.

Barnet Council failed to send out renewal reminders to hundreds of residential permit holders earlier this month due to an administrative issue.

Several people whose permits expired without their knowledge were left fuming when they subsequently had their cars slapped with parking tickets of up to £60.

The council now says the tickets can be cancelled if it is flagged up but one resident believes the authority should have dealt with the situation more proactively.

Dino Burbidge, of Summerlee Gardens in East Finchley, was one of those who received a parking ticket when his permit expired.

Having rung the council to order a new one, he was given a temporary code to display on his vehicle but was forced to ring the authority again because the permit had still not arrived by the time the code expired.

He said: “It is two weeks since they made the error and one week since they were caught out but I’ve still had nothing in the way of an apology or a notice to acknowledge the mistake.

“It is not the end of the world but it is inconvenient. I rely on the council for my renewal letter and I’ve not heard anything about my ticket.

“You would have thought that since they knew they made the mistake they could contact the people it affects rather than wait until it is in the paper.”

A council representative said in a statement: “Resident permit renewal reminders are now going out as normal. Any residents who received a penalty charge as a result of the delay can contact the council to have the ticket cancelled.”