A Queenstown man has been charged with assault after allegedly shoving a parking warden in the chest during an altercation in the resort yesterday.
Acting Sergeant Phil Hamlin, of Queenstown, said the warden was issuing a parking ticket for a car in Brecon St at noon when he was confronted by the vehicle's ''upset'' owner.
''It's got heated, and the driver has gone to the parking warden and pushed him in the chest - given him a shove - and tried to pull the ticket book out of his hands so he could see what the parking warden was writing.''
The driver, a 38-year-old Queenstown resident, drove away from the scene but was arrested at home soon afterwards and charged with assault.
He will appear in the Queenstown District Court on Monday.
The parking warden was not injured but was ''shaken'' by the incident, Sgt Hamlin said.
Parking wardens had a job to do, and it was unacceptable for a member of the public to ''turn to violence''.
However, such incidents were not common.
Queenstown Lakes District Council regulatory manager Lee Webster said he could confirm the incident had taken place, and that the organisation had reported it to the police.
However, he could not comment further until after discussing the incident in more detail with the police today.
