'Garage in use'

Early one morning a good friend of mine found that someone had parked in front of his garage. As he needed to take his children to school he phoned the police and asked them whether it would be possible to arrange for a tow truck to move the offending car. The police asked him whether he had a sign saying "Garage In Use". When he replied in the negative but explained that the garage in question had a mesh door which made it plainly obvious that there was a car inside, he was informed that new regulations, apparently in force since the start of this year, meant that unless a sign with the exact wording of "Garage In Use" was displayed then the police could take no action.

My friend also explained that his wife was not well and he had to take her for regular visits to hospital but the police would not act and said that their hands were tied on the matter.

So all of you out there who think that a simple "No Parking" or similar sign will suffice, please think again. And all of you sign-writers out there, prepare for a deluge of new orders!