The meter maid who inspired Paul McCartney to write the Beatles song ‘Lovely Rita’ from Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band has written out her last parking ticket.
Paul was one of more than 200,000 motorists caught out by Meta Davis during 20 years on her beat.
Mrs Davis gave him a 10 shilling (50p) ticket after his car’s meter time ran out in St John’s Wood.
“He came up behind while I was writing the ticket. He saw that my name was Meta, laughed and said: ‘That would make a nice jingle. I could use that’. We chatted for a few minutes and then he drove off. I didn’t think any more about it.”
Mrs Davis said he was ‘quite nice’ but added that she had not bought the record: “I hear it now and it makes me blush.”
Still as popular as ever: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
This page and more in a similar vein comes from a collection in my eBook. An echo from the Green Fields .