Transport secretary Lord Adonis has revealed that ministers and senior civil servants have racked up close to £60,000 in parking fines since 2003 - at the taxpayers' expense.
In a written answer to a question in the House of Lords, it emerged that chauffeur-driven vehicles from the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) amassed £59,310 in parking fines, with £16,830 of that coming from the 2008/2009 financial year alone.
Lord Adonis's explanation? "Parking restrictions within central London may make it impossible sometimes to deliver secure or sensitive documents to buildings" he says, "or allow people with a high public profile to attend or leave buildings without putting themselves or secure documents at risk".
Perhaps the GCDA is aware of the civil service's ability to leave laptops on trains. Better to be safe than sorry, as they say.
So there you have it - if you're fuming over your latest parking ticket and you want to claim your parking fines back off your company, make sure you're a high-profile figure delivering sensitive documents.
In fairness, the GCDA incurred no speeding fines during the period. Or at least ones for which the taxpayer is expected to shoulder the burden...