A stranded teacher was allowed to sleep in a stationary train when her car was clamped at midnight for being parked in a disabled space.

Barbarina Wild could not afford to pay the £60 fine when her car was clamped at Brighton station car park.

So officers from British Transport Police came to her rescue by letting her spend the night in a carriage, in sidings nearby.

The next day, she caught a train to work in Croydon, stayed overnight with a friend and returned the following day to pay for her car to be released.

Ms Wild, 40, from Eastbourne, had parked in a disabled bay at the station to drop off a friend and help carry her bags when clampers swooped.

Since she was up to her limit on her credit cards and current accounts, the security company refused to remove the clamp. She had just £4 in her pocket.

Deciding it was too late to phone a friend, Ms Wild felt her only option was to curl up in the carriage.

She said: "I didn't want to bother any friends at that hour and the car would have been too cold to sleep in so I felt I didn't have any choice.

"The train was quite dirty and I refused to sleep on the first train British Transport Police suggested but it was not too bad considering."

Ms Wild, who has only been driving for six months, said: "I do feel like a bit of a twit but I'm also really annoyed.

"The car park was completely empty. It seems ridiculous they would do that to a lone woman. It's inhumane."

Clive Deacon, managing director of the Security International Group, the company responsible for the clamping, said: "I appreciate this is an unfortunate situation.

"We felt we acted correctly in the circumstances as there was a car parked in a disabled space for 20 minutes which wasn't displaying a badge.

"If a call had come through to me personally I would probably have dealt with it differently and let Ms Wild off the fine, as she was a woman alone."