DRIVER Amanda Rawlinson crossed the line and paid the penalty.

She was hit with a £40 fine for parking marginally over an invisible line separating two bays at Springwood car park in Huddersfield town centre.

Now she’s warning other motorists to be on the lookout for eagle-eyed parking attendants who take a hard line on rule-breakers.

Mrs Rawlinson, 41, of Scarhouse Lane, Golcar, uses the car park every day for her job as an administrator at Kirklees Council.

She paid £4 for a day’s parking on April 4, the day she was fined.

She said: “I always pay and display my ticket correctly, so when I came back to my car after work I was extremely upset to find a penalty notice packet stuck to my windscreen.

“When I opened the packet I couldn’t believe what the fine was for.”

She said she had to park further away from another car than she would normally have done because the driver had their door open when she pulled into the space.

Mrs Rawlinson added: “The parking bays are only road chips, with no continuous or dotted white lines.

“The only indication of the markings is a very small mark at the front or back of your car, so when you open your car door and look down at the surface you cannot tell if you are in bay or not.”

Mrs Rawlinson, who has a clean licence, had never had a parking fine before in 15 years.

She said she had taken pictures of other cars parked over lines between the bays that had not been given tickets.

“Where is the consistency in this?” she added.

A sign at the car park next to the pay-and-display machines tells drivers that they could get a penalty charge notice for failing to park entirely within a marked space.

Mrs Rawlinson appealed to the council to cancel the fine, but was told that she should have parked in a different space if the one she used was too small.

A letter from the parking office said: “You mention that the bay lines are small; this is because the car park is a rough surface, therefore long markings would not remain in position.

“The small lines distinguishing each bay are clear enough to be visible and are a good indicator of the parking bays.”

A council spokeswoman said: “The markings are clear and the boards state that vehicles will receive a ticket if they are not entirely within a marked bay. This applies even with a valid pay and display ticket.

“Mrs Rawlinson will be sent a notice which will give her the opportunity to appeal.

“If she puts this appeal in writing we will investigate.”