A couple face a £1,000 fine every time they drive home – after double yellow lines were painted across their DRIVEWAY.
James Callan and his partner Lauren thought it was a “joke” when bungling council workers installed the parking prevention measure outside their home.
They’ve now been told they are breaking the law by using the driveway as it is inside the yellow lines and by attempting to drive on or off their own land they will be making an illegal “vehicle crossing”.
James, 28, said: “It’s down to council workers making a stupid mistake but now they don’t want to admit it and they’d rather try and make some cash out of us instead.
“They claim because we don’t have a dropped curb outside our home that they are justified in putting yellow lines outside our house but it’s been that way since the house was built in 1995.
“We’ve never had any problems before and no matter what they say, I’m going to carry on using my driveway.
“They’ve admitted to me that it’s not enforceable because they painted the lines before a consultation, but it doesn’t stop them trying to tell me they’re going to fine us if we drive on to our land.”
The couple, from Adlington, Lancs., had no warning from Lancashire County Council that the lines were due to be painted until it was too late.
Lauren, who works for Lancashire Police, said: “I came out about 10am or 11am and they’d just started doing it. I was going out with the dogs.
“They’d just started doing the opposite side and they’d done it all by the time I’d got back. I thought it was a joke.”
And realising that the new yellow lines stopped them from parking outside their house, James and Lauren have been forced to knock down a gatepost so they can get a second car in the driveway.
James, who works for Network Rail, said: “I was shocked that they could do it without even having any consultation which now they’re having.
“I thought, did I need to knock that post down, so we could park both cars?
Their solution was park at the other end of the street and walk to your house.
“We don’t mind the double yellow lines – but not in front of the driveway.”
