Dave Hoban

“I COULD have been put in the Tower!” recalled a West Hampstead builder, who told the New Journal, as he mourns the Queen’s death, of a parking incident gone awry while on a royal job at Clarence House in the 90s.

David Hoban, 52, has spent the past few decades “maintaining properties” in NW6.

When he was just a sprightly young decorator in his 20s, the company he worked for was contracted to refurb Clarence House, where the Queen Mother was living at the time.

The royal residence is situated in The Mall, adjacent to St James’s Palace.

Unlike the swarms of people now lining the road with flowers and tributes, back in 1991, Mr Hoban arrived on his bright orange moped on the first day of the job to a totally empty stretch of road.

Not a vehicle in sight. “What a perfect place to park,” he thought.

Mr Hoban parked next to the royal guard’s box near the side entrance to Clarence House, signed in, went inside and “didn’t think anything of it”.

He was there for a couple of days to paint the cloakrooms.

“Got to about lunchtime for the bomb squad to track me down,” he laughed.

The police called his home where his mother explained that the owner of the vehicle was not a terrorist, but a painter.

Parking on royal Mall is strictly prohibited.

“Imagine my mum’s face when she took the call,” Mr Hoban said. “In hindsight I was so naive parking there. It seemed perfectly reasonable at the time. I’m lucky they didn’t blow up my moped. I was let off with a parking ticket,” he said.