COUNCIL spy cars have been caught parking on yellow lines across Southend... as they try to catch out drivers doing exactly the same thing.

Eagle-eyed readers photographed the CCTV cars parked illegally as traffic wardens attempted to film wrongdoing by other drivers.

They claim the practice, which is technically allowed by law, should be banned if the council wants to set a good example.

Accountant Claire Nash, 24, leant out of her office window at Waller and Nash to snap a spy car parked on double yellow lines in London Road, Leigh.

She said: “It shouldn’t be allowed. It’s just blatant hypocrisy. How can that be right?”

Another motorist, who asked not to be named, spotted a spy car on a single yellow line in Chalkwell Park Drive, Leigh.

He said: “It is hypocritical of the council to try to catch people for parking offences while committing them itself.

“They should be setting an example – a good one.”

Southend Council has two spy cars, which it uses to film evidence of illegally-parked vehicles.

The cars have been mired in controversy since they were introduced in July, with several complaints about unfair targeting of certain streets and wrongly-issued tickets to disabled drivers.

Despite the criticism, council chiefs maintain the cars, which caught 260 drivers in the first 17 days of operation, have been a success.

They say they have had more messages of support than complaints, and residents often ask them to deploy the cars near their homes to cure parking problems.

Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, vehicles belonging to traffic wardens do not have to obey parking restrictions. However, Derek Kenyon, the council’s parking manager, said: “The CCTV car drivers are instructed to ensure that, on those occasions when they do have to park on single or double yellow lines, they don’t cause an obstruction or endanger other road users and pedestrians.

“There are numerous areas in Southend where it is almost impossible for the CCTV cars to enforce parking restrictions unless they park in contravention themselves.

“However, they are instructed never to park in disabled bays, or on double yellow lines where there are also yellow markings on the kerb to indicate no-stopping zones.”