TEIGNMOUTH received world wide headlines 40 years ago when a traffic warden threatened to book a funeral hearse and cortege outside a church.

A few weeks later there was more publicity when the Bishop of Crediton the Right Rev Peter Coleman received a ticket while in town to induct the Rev Philip Luff, the vicar of St Michael’s Church, as priest in charge of the nearby St James’s.

The bishop drove himself to the resort, but after the service found he had issued with a fixed penalty notice for parking on double yellow lines outside the church.

One of the congregation said he seemed quite suprised when he left the church in purple robes and discovered the ticket on his car, but took it in good humour.

Perhaps still stunned by national and international coverage given to the funeral cortege affair, people were keeping tight lipped about the latest incident.

Bishop Coleman confirmed he had been issued with a ticket, but did not want to comment further.

Mr Luff, who complained bitterly about the action of the traffic warden, Les Brockwell, over the hearse incident, said he knew nothing about the bishop’s parking ticket.

Inspector Della Canning, head of Teignmouth police, emphasised that the police and not the local traffic warden issued three parking tickets to cars parked illegally in the vicinity of the church that evening.

‘An officer on patrol came acros the vehicles and issued fixed penalty notices as a matter of course. He had no idea whose vehicles they were.’

Teignmouth’s normally talkative mayor, Cllr Peter Winterbottom, who was at the service, was also reticent to make much of it.

‘I do not want to say much because I think Teignmouth has received enough bad publicity over parking lately.

‘But I thought it was a shame that the bishop, who was a guest and stranger in our town, should be booked, so I took the ticket and dealt with it.’