(Iran) - An incensed Iranian motorist doused his car in gasoline and set it ablaze with a match after picking up a parking ticket, media reported. A news agency posted photographs of the charred shell of the car and quoted witnesses describing the driver's frantic but fruitless pleas to the parking attendant not to issue a ticket.

"Extremely angry, he took a can of gas out of the trunk and set fire to his car," the news agency quoted a witness saying. Fines have increased heavily since March in an attempt to bring Iran's reckless drivers into line. Road rage is common on the gridlocked streets of Tehran.