AN over-zealous parking attendant slapped tickets on Bruce Springsteen's tour trucks ahead of a landmark gig by The Boss.

The move came as Springsteen prepared to play the first-ever gig at the brand new, £60 million Leeds Arena yesterday afternoon.

Bemused fans watched the council enforcement officer ticketing the huge articulated vehicles parked on double yellow lines outside the venue at the north end of the city centre.

And pictures of the warden soon started circulating on social networks.

Leeds City Council, which had been heavily promoting the concert as the start of new era of music events for the city and the region, acknowledged it was embarrassing, even though the officer was only doing his job. It said that, given the circumstances, the ticket would not have to be paid.

A city council spokesman said: "We accept this is a little embarrassing but, to be fair, the attendant was doing his job, if a little too efficiently. These were somewhat unusual circumstances with a very large tour involving a tight turnaround of vehicles arriving from the previous night's show in Cardiff on the opening night of a brand new venue.

"The parking tickets were legitimately issued as the area concerned had double-yellow lines and was outside the agreed area for trucks to park. The tickets were quickly cancelled."