Bruce Springsteen pictured performing at Leeds Arena yesterday afternoon. Credit: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Leeds City Council has accepted that putting parking tickets on Bruce Springsteen's tour trucks ahead of a landmark gig by The Boss was "a little embarrassing".
A parking attendant stuck the tickets on the lorries as Springsteen prepared to play the first-ever gig at the brand new, £60 million Leeds Arena yesterday afternoon.
Bemused fans watched the council enforcement officer ticketing the huge articulated vehicles that were parked on double yellow lines outside the venue at the north end of the city centre.
And pictures of the over-zealous warden soon started circulating on social networks.
Today, the council, which had been heavily promoting the concert as the start of new era of music events for the city and the region, acknowledged it was embarrassing, even though the officer was only doing his job.
It said that, given the special circumstances, the ticket would not have to be paid.
Bruce Springsteen was cut off while playing with Paul McCartney Credit: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Organisers of Bruce Springsteen's Hyde Park show that was cut short have been criticised for suggesting the gig was brought to an early close onthe grounds of "health and safety".
Kevin Myers, the deputy chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive, said it was not true to blame the end of the show on those grounds.
Mr Myers - who was at the event - said: "The fans deserve the truth. There's no health and safety issues involved here.
"It's ironic that this excuse has been used in relation to Bruce Springsteen, who certainly knows what real health and safety is all about - look at the words of Factory from Darkness On The Edge Of Town referring to the toll that factory work can take on the health of blue-collar workers."
Actor and musician Steven Van Zandt, who plays guitar in Springsteen's E-Street Band and stared in cult US drama series The Sopranos, voiced his frustration on Twitter at the gig's ending.
Amateur video footage shows Bruce Springsteen and Sir Paul McCartney silenced on Saturday night at Hard Rock Calling when their microphones were cut off before they could address the crowds.
Concert organisers, not the council, ended last night's concert in Hyde Park to comply with their licence, which allows them to run the concert until 10.30pm. Licences are granted until certain times to protect residents in the area from noise late at night.
