Cornwall Council is to waive the fines handed out to a number of public-spirited residents who were helping to clean up Penzance's promenade on Sunday.
Four motorists had a nasty shock when they returned to their cars at the Wherrytown car park to find they'd been ticketed.
But, following an appeal by clean-up organiser, Cornwall councillor Tim Dwelly, the fines will all be withdrawn.
Bert Biscoe, the council's cabinet member for transport and waste, said: "Unfortunately the parking officer didn't know that some people were using the car park on that day to do a litter pick and so issued the penalty notices.
"I'm sorry that this has occurred. We have withdrawn the penalty notices.
"The council is keen to support community events such as this. It is essential though for organisers to let us know beforehand – then we can avoid things like this occurring in the future."
Mr Dwelly said: "I am pleased that Cornwall Council responded by agreeing to immediately cancel the tickets.
"It was terrible timing and so disappointing that discretion was not exercised. Councillor Jim McKenna and I asked them to stop as soon as we heard what had happened."
