CASTEL parish has unanimously decided to pay the £200 constable Barry Paint was sued for by van owner Steve Ogier.

The 25 people at last night’s parish meeting agreed that Deputy Paint should not have to pay for the damage caused to the van, which had been deemed a fire hazard, when he supervised it being moved by a tractor from the car park next to Checkers Xpress at Cobo in June.

Parishioner Gordon Young was adamant that the douzaine should pay the fine because Deputy Paint (pictured) had acted on behalf of the parish in the interests of health and safety. He had helped Deputy Paint move several vehicles in the car park.

‘The parish should pay the fine – otherwise, what will constables stand for?’ he said.

‘They will have no power – I would like to see an island-wide public meeting to get all the douzaines together to see what can be done about the issue,’ he said.

Before the recent ground-breaking Petty Debts Court case, actions involving parish officials had been brought against constables and douzaines as parish bodies rather than the individual.