A driver says he was shocked to discover yellow lines had been painted around his van and parking wardens had given him two tickets.

Retired building site foreman David Brown, 67, says there were no yellow markings on the road when he parked his van near his home in Imperial Road, Gillingham, at the end of March.

He’d bought the van in preparation for moving to France, and having seen no warning signs about upcoming work to paint lines, believed his van was parked legally.

But he was stunned to find he’d been issued with two parking tickets on Saturday and Sunday April 14 and 15 - and even more surprised to find the new yellow lines had appeared in the street.

The lines had apparently been painted up to his tyres, and around other cars in the street, and Mr Brown believes council workers had even gone to the effort of painting under his van.

The council has said it published a public notice in March advising residents that parking restrictions would be implemented and said Mr Brown has the right to appeal the fines.

“It’s not fair,”Mr Brown. “Is it legal to give me tickets with unfinished lines and and is it legal for the council to crawl under my vehicle to paint them?

“I’ve never heard of anything like this in my life. They should give me a notice to warn me to move the vehicle I would have thought.

“To crawl underneath - I can see the funny side of it, but it does make me mad. I don’t drink nowadays but if your mates told you that over a pint you wouldn’t believe it.”

And Mr Brown said the incident had made him even more determined to move abroad.

“This is just necessary hassle, I don’t want all this,” he added. “I want to sell up and go to France. It’s much cheaper to live.”