As any Londoner knows parking in the capital can be a tricky business even at the best of times.
So no doubt there will be a collective wave of sympathy for tourist Nima Hosseini Razi who is today counting the cost of being illegally parked on the city’s streets.
The business student discovered that you do not just run the danger of a fine if you leave your car in the wrong spot - after anti-terrorist officers blew up his Ford Mondeo.
His misfortune began yesterday morning while on a 24 hour jaunt around London when the vehicle began to have problems as he was driving around Parliament Square.
But his bad luck continued as the car broke down in Storey’s Gate, just yards from the House of Commons and Westminster Abbey.
He called for a repairman and wrote a polite note explaining: “Dear Sir or Madam, this car is broken. I am just waiting for the AA to arrive. Please do not fine! Thank you, yours sincerely.”
He then wandered off to do a spot of sightseeing - paying a visit to Buckingham Palace, a 15 minute walk away.
But in a valuable lesson to tourists heading to this summer’s Olympics he learned the hard way that alas when it comes to security no one is taking any chances.
When the abandoned vehicle was discovered, officers decided it was a potential risk and evacuated the area so they could carry out a controlled explosion.
When Mr Razi, who is studying for a MBA at the University of Wales, returned he found officers picking their way through the remains of his mangled car.
And of course with utter predictability a traffic warden arrived on the scene and issued him a ticket, before his car was towed away.
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A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We can confirm there was a suspect vehicle at Stories Gate at 10.20am on Wednesday and a controlled explosion took place and the incident was subsequently deemed as non-suspicious.”
