Robert Moore – who admits the car was straddling the line between the two bays by inches – said he was away from his Honda Civic for less than a minute to check a restaurant's opening times.



He was amazed when he returned to find he had been slapped with a penalty for causing an obstruction – even though the area was deserted.

Parking bosses defended their actions and said the rules were there to stop irresponsible parking.



Mr Moore was with his wife and daughter on Wednesday afternoon on a family day out when he stopped off at Hartlepool Marina.

The three of them left the car to pop into one of the restaurants to check its opening times for a possible visit at a later date.

When he came back out a parking attendant was writing out a ticket for causing an obstruction.

Marina bosses say they do not comment on individual cases but that tickets are given out to make the marina a safer and more accessible place.

Mr Moore, 54, who runs Robert Moore's butchers, in King Oswy Drive, Hartlepool, said: "I couldn't believe it when I came out and saw her writing the ticket out.

"There was not a soul around and we had been gone a matter of seconds.
"I could understand it if it was a busy weekend or if I'd left it like that all day but I was literally running in and out.

"I know I have done something wrong in parking the car like that but there has to be some common sense."

He says he will pay the £90 ticket, which drops to £60 if paid within 14 days, but will think twice about going back to the marina.

"You hear people talking about getting more business down here but they are just putting people off by doing this, it's a joke," he added.

The ticket was handed out at 2.44pm on Wednesday by the Car Parking Partnership, a company hired by site owners, the Mandale Group.

Peter Jeffries, maintenance manager for Mandale Commercial, said: "We hired a company in to control the parking because people were parking all over and blocking access.

"We started by issuing wheel clamps but we felt this was harsh so we now use a ticket system that is faster, cheaper and easier.

"We implemented the system for health and safety reasons and to allow better disabled access."