Man fined after council moved car to paint yellow lines underneath

A driver was left fuming after the council moved his car and painted double yellow lines underneath.

James Dee was stunned when he returned to his car in London to find he had been given a ticket for parking illegally.

The 43-year-old had left his red Vauxhall Safira on Beadman Street in Norwood at around 10.30am recently.

But while he was away, a truck came around and hoisted his motor into the air while a worker painted new lines on the road.

In CCTV footage capturing the bizarre sequence of events, a traffic warden then walks by and slaps a ticket for £55 on James' windscreen.

James Dee's car was moved while he was away.

"I couldn't believe it," the 43-year-old told the Sun. "Not only did the council move my car to paint the lines, they then had the cheek to slap on a parking ticket which I'm having to appeal.

"I'm absolutely fuming, I'm not paying a penny."

James, a bus driver, had parked his car up ahead of his shift at the nearby depot, returning a few hours later.

And he says this has never happened before.

"I'm a bus driver and had parked near to my work like I do almost every day," James went on.

"It's on an industrial estate and there's some roads where you can park with no restrictions, all the drivers park there and have done for years.

"Where I'd left my car there were no lines whatsoever, but when I came back that night at about 8.30pm, my car was facing the opposite way to how I parked it, there were double yellow lines underneath my back wheel, and a ticket in my window.

"It was a head-scratcher, at first first I thought it was a prank, that's until I realised Lambeth Council had stitched me up, it's absolutely ridiculous.

"The council could have put up a sign or cones to warn people they were painting lines, but of course, they didn't bother."

And to top it off, he was slapped with a £55 fine.

And if that wasn't infuriating enough, when he appealed his ticket, James said Lambeth Council rejected it.

But instead of taking it lying down, he managed to get hold of the CCTV footage, which shows his car being moved so the lines could be painted - which has been submitted to the council.

"Luckily I found some CCTV which showed I was in the right," the dad-of-three said.

"It showed a tow truck lifting up my car while council workers wearing yellow high-vis vests painted lines underneath.

"About 40 minutes later you see the warden come along and issue a ticket.

"What's worse if they had moved my car just six inches forward it would have been parked legally, they clearly couldn't be bothered to do their job properly.

"I've got them caught bang to rights on camera, I won't be paying a penny."

A Lambeth Council spokesperson told LADbible: “We have cancelled this penalty charge notice.”