Bungling police towed away a woman's car even though it was parked under a sign giving her permission to park there.

They apologised to Miranda Spiers after taking her car to the pound, mistakenly thinking she was illegally parked during last Sunday's Party in the Park.

Officers towed Miss Spiers' car and a row of others without warning when they made a last-minute decision to close Frederick Place, near Brighton station, as thousands of pop fans poured out of the free concert.

Miss Spiers, 34, of Freshfield Place, Brighton, left her car in the spot on the road where she normally parks every Sunday to go to work at the nearby Pond pub, where she is a chef.

She returned to find her car had vanished and the road had been closed to traffic to make way for crowds of pop fans as they swarmed through the city's streets.

She called police, thinking her Rover Metro had been stolen,only to be told it was in a police pound five miles away in Shoreham and she should go to collect it.

The pop concert attracted some 80,000 revellers and various roads around Preston Park were closed for the day to ease congestion.

But Brighton and Hove City Council admitted it had made no plans to close Frederick Place before the concert.

Miss Spiers had no reason to believe the road would later become a thoroughfare for hordes of revellers.

Police officers were given the order to close the road after the concert had ended as thousands of fans spilled out into the city's streets in and around Frederick Place.

Miss Spiers' car and about four others had been parked on double yellow lines but Miss Spiers left hers in her usual spot by the sign, which clearly indicates the restrictions apply every day except Sundays.

Police saw the cars were on double-yellow lines, believed they were illegally parked and causing an obstruction and promptly impounded them - failing to read the sign.

Miss Spiers said: "I was shocked and thought perhaps my car had been stolen but then a police officer told me it had been taken away and impounded.

"The next day I went to Shoreham to pick up my car and the whole process, including travelling time, took about three hours. There was some problem sending a fax to release my car and one of the officers actually suggested I come back a day later.

"Although I had not done anything wrong, there wasn't a hint of an apology and it felt as if they were doing me a favour."

Police have now agreed to waive the £105 release fee which owners usually have to pay to take their car from the police pound but Miss Spiers is furious about how she was treated through no fault of her own.

She said: "I was astounded by the inefficiency and ineptitude of Brighton police. They have had months to organise this extravaganza and yet they still make mistakes at extra cost to the taxpayer."

Chief Inspector Lance Gray said: "In this instance, we offer our humblest apologies to Miss Spiers as it seems as though we missed the Except Sunday sign.

"It is within my powers to remove cars that are causing an obstruction but we obviously owe the driver an apology."

A council spokesman said: "We hadn't planned to close Frederick Place but there were thousands of young people leaving the park so it was shut for safety between 2.30pm and 4.30pm."

In May, parking attendants towed away and crushed Frenchwoman Caroline Peytavi's car after failing to realise it did not need a tax disc.

On Tuesday, we reported how Wendy Richardson, from Hollingdean, suffered a similar fate when overzealous council officers mistakenly assumed her car was abandoned and destroyed it.