Police hold driver for six hours over parking row

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Charles Lucy, 61, was held for six hours, made to give a DNA sample and had his fingerprints taken after the row.

His alleged crime was to lift the car park barrier at his local Sainsbury's in Pimlico so he and his wife, Judy, could leave the store on Friday evening.

Two days later, police woke him at his £500,000 home nearby and arrested him on suspicion of criminal damage.

Mr Lucy was released on bail but is furious at the way he was treated.

He said: "I can't believe all this, I thought it was a joke before I realised that my car was being held to ransom. It is a stupid procedure and the £5 ticket was the last straw for me - this is total madness." The drama unfolded when the couple went to pay for their £100 weekly shop and Mr Lucy realised he had lost his ticket for the store's underground car park.

According to Mr Lucy, he was first told he had to pay £75 for a new ticket but that the price dropped to £5 after he complained to customer services.

He still refused to pay "on principle" and lifted the car park barrier himself before driving away.

The composer, who used mathematics to invent a new musical scale, said: "The barrier was very light, it required no force at all, but Sainsbury's claimed that I caused £4,000 worth of damage."