A SECRETARY had a surprise when a parking meter spat out two tickets and one displayed nearly £36,000.

Sheila Barritt was on her way to work when she went to obtain her pay and display ticket at Castle Street car park, Worcester.

But she received two tickets, one which seemed to indicate £35,656.30 gathered in parking fees by that one meter.

Mrs Barritt, who works as a secretary for a stockbrokers in the Butts, said she had been parking in the same car park for around a year, but nothing like that had ever happened before.

"I was absolutely shocked at the amount," she said.

"I thought 'good grief', they make that much money from one machine and there are five machines in the car park".

Mrs Barritt, who lives in Perdiswell, Worcester said she presumed the amount was the total from the meter for a year.

"I kept thinking it's a lot of money," said Mrs Barritt, who has a son and daughter.

She said she went home after the incident and showed her husband David Barritt the ticket.

"It's interesting to see how much those car parking machines are gathering in," said Mr Barritt, who works as a machine tool engineer in Warndon.

"At first we thought the money was for five days but it's probably for about a year-and-a-half."

After seeing a copy, Paul Kyte assistant engineer Worcester City Council said it was an audit ticket.

"The amount is the running total for the financial year collected from that one machine," he said.

"It's no secret and the chief financial officer at Worcester City Council is happy to make public statements of accounts.

"Running car parks is an expensive business, for instance there are rates, CCTV, insurance, staff.

"Any surplus money is used for the good of the city and residents of the city."