'Mean-spirited' council chiefs delivered a 'Christmas surprise' to drivers on Boxing Day by issuing them with £70 parking fines.
Motorists in Bolton woke up on December 26 to find a traffic warden had slapped their cars with parking tickets by taking advantage of a loophole as Boxing Day fell on a Saturday.
As a Bank Holiday cannot fall on a weekend it meant tickets could legally be issued.
Parking along that stretch of Ashworth Lane where the tickets were issued is banned between 7.30am and 6.30pm Monday to Saturday - apart from Bank Holidays, Bolton News reports.
So the warden was allowed to hand out tickets because it was a Saturday.
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Residents in a Whatsapp group sounded the alarm at around 8am to other car owners.
Most jumped out of their beds to move their cars but at around 10 drivers were too late.
A driver who was slapped with a fine called it 'morally wrong' and she would like to know if other parts of Bolton were targeted in 'this little Christmas surprise'.
Residents who confronted the warden said the tickets were issued legitimately as Saturday was not officially a Bank Holiday.
But Hilary Fairclough, a local councillor, is calling for the 'mean-spirited' tickets to be cancelled after she was contacted by furious residents.
She said she normally supports parking enforcement in the area, especially during busy school run times, but to ticket cars on Boxing Day was 'indefensible'.
She said: “What appears to be one of the issues is that the parking attendant said it was not a bank holiday.
“That may be true but it was Boxing Day and unfair.
"This was incredibly mean-spirited. It’s a shocking and indefensible move."
Cllr Fairclough said she has written to Bolton Council’s parking enforcement department stating that 'common sense should prevail' and the tickets must be cancelled.
The Mirror has contacted Bolton Council for a comment.
