A MOTORIST was left seeing red when traffic wardens slapped him with a ticket – after Havering Council road workers painted a yellow line under his parked car.

Bus driver, Daniel Jacob, 26, left his burgundy Renault Megane in a gap in yellow lines in Park Drive, Upminster, on November 1, while at work. The road had been recently resurfaced with single yellow restrictions – but highway officers had left a car-sized gap, which Daniel believed was a parking space.

When he returned later that day, he found over-zealous workmen had spray-painted up to his tyres and continued under his car - and a passing warden had then issued him with a hefty �120 fine.

Dad-of-two Daniel said: “I’m angry to say the least. I believed I was parking completely legally in a gap in the road. I couldn’t believe it when I returned to find someone had got on their hands and knees and painted under my car. It’s not even straight - it’s a wobbly scrawl!

“Surely it can’t be common practice?”

He added: “There were no traffic signs or cones to inform the public that yellow lines were to be applied, and to add insult to injury they left paint on my wheels!”

The council had put up signs warning drivers not to park in the road during works on October 25 and 26 - which Daniel, from Basildon, had abided by.

The council admitted a mistake had been made and has promised to revoke Daniel’s ticket.

“This was a temporary line to try and prevent other cars parking there in the future so we could get on and finish the job,” said Cllr Barry Tebbutt, cabinet member for Streetcare. “One of our officers was unaware of this and issued a parking ticket. We will, of course, cancel this ticket.”

Single yellow lines indicate that parking restrictions are in place, which are detailed in nearby signs and usually forbid parking during certain hours.