Funnily I got this via a different route the other day. And I'm afraid its not true.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/clever/carpark.asp

Though if you are ever in Bristol its worth a visit as some of it is excellent.

And one of my earliest memories is of being lost in there when I was about 4 and some very nice salvation army ladies who looked after me .



>A Well-Planned Retirement* - *From The London Times:*
>
>Outside the Bristol Zoo, in England , there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 coaches, or buses. It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 (about $1.40) and coaches A£5 (about $7).
>
>This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years. Then, one day, he just didn't turn up for work.
>
>"Oh well", said Bristol Zoo Management - "we'd better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant..."
>
>"Err ... no", said the Council, "that parking lot is your responsibility."
>
>"Err ... no", said Bristol Zoo Management, "the attendant was employed by the City Council, wasn't he?"
>
>"Err ... NO!" insisted the Council.
>
>Sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain , is a bloke who had been taking the parking lot fees, estimated at A£400 (about $560) per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years. Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over A£3.6 million ($7 million)! And no one even knows his name.