Parking officials used by Milton Keynes Council accused of 'moonlighting' at British Grand Prix

The enforcement officers were seen arriving at the circuit's £66-a-spot car park in a van emblazoned with MK Council's logo.

It is even claimed they were wearing official green MKC tee shirts underneath the hi vis jacket provided by Silverstone's parking company Saba.

One witness said: "For about 30 minutes they hung around the car and lit up cigarettes. Then they must have issued PCNs to hundreds of people who were parking incorrectly or had not paid.".

"What on earth are MKC employees doing in a council vehicle, in council uniform working for a private company issuing tickets?"

The witness has questioned the validity of the tickets issued by these officers and has asked for an investigation,

This week an MK Council spokesman said: "Saba is the company we use for parking enforcement. These were Saba employees and we have been assured they were not wearing MKC uniforms."

The spokesman added: "However, we have learned that a Saba vehicle usually used for MK Council work (so has our logo on it) was used to travel to the site after other planned transport broke down just before the event. This is not acceptable. We have raised this with Saba, who apologise for the mistake and will ensure it doesn’t happen again. The petrol and running costs are covered by Saba.”