A legal worker who tried to fool parking wardens and save £9 by using Tipp-Ex on a ticket has now been ordered to pay £800.
Malikah Richards, 25, paid just £1.80 for an hour's parking but tried to trick attendants by whiting out the "1" and writing "10" to make it look like she paid the day rate.
However her desperate ploy backfired as eagle-eyed wardens in Portsmouth, Hampshire, spotted the Tipp-Ex edit.
A court heard the careless paralegal had amassed more than £2,000 in parking fines since March last year - receiving a total of 27 tickets.
Richards' white Mercedes C220 was impounded after the fine was not paid last month.
It was eventually reclaimed by the finance company she had used to buy the car, as she had also missed payments for it.
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Ben Attrill, prosecuting at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court, said: "Portsmouth City Council parking officers were patrolling the street when they came across a Mercedes parked in a pay and display bay.
"They inspected the ticket and noticed it had been altered by Tipp-Ex and by hand using black ink.
"A parking charge notice was issued and the car was impounded. The car was not claimed but was eventually recovered by the vehicle's finance company which showed outstanding payments on the vehicle."
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Richards, from Portsmouth, admitted two counts of fraud for changing the ticket and then using it.
She told police she only had the money to pay for one hour when she visited her boyfriend.
"I have pleaded guilty. I no longer have the vehicle. I now have a job but was not working at the time," the motorist told JPs.
But furious magistrates branded Richards "silly", slapped her with a £440 fine and ordered her to pay £340.
Speaking after the case, Portsmouth City Council investigations officer Stephen Goodall said: "The council impounded the defendant's vehicle due to the amount of outstanding penalty charge notices and debt accrued.
"She stated that she would enter a payment plan, and the vehicle was released to her but she reneged on this agreement, and continued to accrue more penalty notices in Southsea, near her boyfriend's address."
