Baffled residents were left outraged after a parking warden left his car carelessly across half a bay – and say he should have given himself a ticket.
A picture snapped by local Steven Way shows the enforcement officer’s shoddy parking outside the white lines, although not obstructing other cars.
The grey 17-plate Ford Fiesta, driven by a Shepway District Council warden, was spotted in Hythe, Kent, on Monday morning.
Steven, a chartered building surveyor, stressed that the officer “shouldn’t need to be told” how to park correctly in the bay.
He said: “I had to explain to the Shepway enforcement officer in the Paddocks car park on Monday morning that he too has a responsibility to park properly.
“He moved but he shouldn’t need to be asked.
“As parking outside the white lines is a ticket-able ‘offence’ he shouldn’t need to be told.”
“Clearly Shepway parking team have no idea of their own rules – if they don’t, how can we expect their enforcement officers to have better knowledge?”
Other residents branded the parking ‘appalling’, and said the warden was ‘not above the law’.
However, a spokesman for the council said that because the car was not obstructing others, it would not be “liable” for a parking ticket.
The spokesman said: “We’re aware of a situation where a parking officer parked outside of the marked bay of a car park.
“In this instance the car was not causing an obstruction, i.e. preventing another car parking in the next bay or blocking access by other vehicles or pedestrians, therefore it would not be liable for a parking ticket.”
According to Shepway District Council’s website, you can receive a fine for not parking appropriately.
This includes obstructing the road, parking opposite or within 10 metres of a junction, using spaces reserved for specific users, such as Blue Badge holders.