TRADERS in Swansea have been calling for free parking in the city centre for years, but it seems at least one person already has it.

Lord Mayor Alan Lloyd's official car was spotted parking in a busy bus bay on Saturday morning.

Illegal parking usually leaves motorists with a fine, but no ticket was issued on the Lord Mayor's car, despite being spotted by two traffic wardens.

A council spokesman has since admitted the car "was parked inappropriately" and apologised for the incident.

The Lord Mayor was attending an Urdd event in the city centre and his car parked in the bus bay in Castle Square.

But while he joined the hundreds of supporters celebrating next year's return of the National Urdd Eisteddfod to Swansea, unhappy bus drivers cursed as they struggled to pull into the bay.

It looked briefly as if Swansea Council traffic wardens would sort things out.

Two of them arrived, looked at the car, looked at the nearby no parking sign and got on the radio. One passerby assumed that they were radioing for a tow truck as the sign warned that cars parked in the bays could be towed.

But after a brief radio conversation the pair disappeared and did not return, leaving the car unticketed.

The Lord Mayor's chauffeur returned to tidy up the parking but the car remained in the bay.

Another driver followed the Lord Mayor's lead and parked in the bus bay making it difficult for buses to enter the bay and caused a queue of traffic.

After five minutes the second driver moved his car but the Lord Mayor's vehicle remained.

The Post contacted Swansea Council about the issue and asked why traffic wardens did not enforce the regulations.

But a council spokesman would only say: "It is important that the Lord Mayor can arrive within a reasonable distance of the event he is attending and usually appropriate parking arrangements are made.

"However, we accept that on this occasion the car was parked inappropriately and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."

julia.bosnyak@swwmedia.co.uk