Angus Council has failed in an appeal after it supplied phone and online payment methods on tickets but no postal address.

A government watchdog ruled in October that the 18,000 tickets issued by the council were void.

The council has now lost an appeal it made to the Parking and Bus Lane Tribunal for Scotland.

In a 12-page finding, the tribunal upheld the decision which found that a flaw in the wording of the tickets rendered them invalid.

Parking tickets must contain an address to which the fine payment can be sent.

While the tickets provide a phone number and website address, there is no postal address.

The council’s director of legal and democratic services, Jackie Buchan, had claimed “there is no statutory requirement to facilitate payment by cash or by cheque”.

Colin Dunipace, adjudicator of the Parking and Bus Lane Tribunal for Scotland, said the council had “unilaterally decided that payments by cash or cheque are not valid”.

He added that while the council was not given prior notice that the competency of the ticket was going to be raised at the hearing, it could have sought an adjournment, but failed to do so.

The local authority has not said what action it will take or if people can apply for a refund.

Carnoustie and District independent councillor Brian Boyd said: “This administration’s handling of any parking related issue has been frankly catastrophic.

“They have stumbled from one parking blunder to another and, quite frankly, it is our town centres that are paying the price for it.”