A father-of-two who is refusing to pay a £130 parking fine has branded the council’s tactics of catching people “disgusting”.

Nic McDonnell was issued a fine after leaving his car parked on a single yellow line in Eastfield Road, Walthamstow, while he went to look for a parking sign.

The 35-year-old sound engineer from Walthamstow claims the parking warden watched him leave his car and waited for the right moment to catch him.

He said: “I parked my car on a single yellow line and walked up the street to find a sign with the parking times.

“There was a man sitting in his car, which was also parked on a single yellow line, and I saw him get out and put a ticket on my windscreen before driving off.

“He watched me leaving my car and waited to catch me.

“I think it is a disgusting practice how the council catch people out.”

After Mr McDonnell was issued the PCN at 8.40pm on Wednesday, September 21, he emailed the Waltham Forest Council asking for photos of parking signs on Eastfield Road but claims it refused to provide them.

He said because the council refused to provide evidence of parking signs, and because he could not find any himself, he will not pay the fine.

Once he has received a Notice To Owner (NTO) from the council he plans to take his case to an independent adjudicator.

He said: “When I first started driving four years ago I was getting a ticket nearly every week and I paid them because I didn’t want the fine to increase.

“But now this is the first ticket I have been given for a few years and I feel the council are bullying people into paying fines."

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, said: “We are satisfied that the penalty charge notice (PCN) was issued correctly in this instance as yellow line restrictions were in force at the time the vehicle was parked.

“The controlled parking zone (CPZ) is signposted with statutory Department for Transport signage at every entrance.

“Registered keepers of vehicles have the right to make formal representations and to appeal to the independent adjudicator if they do not agree with the reasons for the PCN being issued, and we have written to this motorist to advise them how to do this.”