01 Apr 2026
Fun-starved councillors at SADC have come up with a creative new strategy to enable free parking for visitors to central St Albans and Harpenden.
Kicking off today, their innovative ‘Larking for Parking’ scheme will enable anybody parking in full fancy dress to avoid paying the unpopular on-street parking fees.
A spokesperson for SADC said that they are crushingly aware that people could do with a bit more fun in their lives after imposing an onslaught of misery in recent months, so they will be running the quirky scheme throughout April.
Designated themed days will apply on weekdays: Military Mondays (no Nazi uniforms please), TV Tuesdays (any well-known television character as long as they haven’t been investigated by Operation Yewtree), Wedding Dress Wednesdays, Thong Thursdays and Flamingo Fridays (think giant pink birds) with a greater flexibility of freestyle fancy dress at weekends.
SADC’s parking department head honcho Chad Etheteck said: “We know you think we are a bit mean and boring. And you’re probably right. So here’s something a bit different.
“All you have to do is flag down a traffic warden – who will be dressed as a penguin – and ask for the ‘I’m in fancy dress’ sticker to attach to the inside of your windscreen.”
Parking campaigner Barry Gourdgent said: “Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s good to see the SADC administration pushing the boundaries of taste and decency in a bid to win hearts and minds before the council elections in May.”
Social media influencer Sharon Kook added: “It’ll be worth digging out my wedding dress from 2010 if it means I can save £2.75.”
Harpenden mum Hattie Whews-Takedown added: “The only thing now is you won’t be able to bloody park in town without experiencing some sort of costume-related trauma. It’s bad enough dragging them out for the school run as it is, but now they have to contend with six foot flamingos before we’ve even reached the end of the road.”
…and yes, it’s April 1 today…
