A DOUBLE white line on the end of parking bays in the borough could lead to parking chaos.

Many residential bays are among those affected, meaning any tickets given to people parking there is effectively unenforceable.

The lines are on parking bays which have no individual bays marked inside them. Guidelines say these should be marked out by a single white line at either end, but in many cases workers have painted two.

Last month Ealing Council pulled out of an appeal hearing over a parking ticket because it acknowledged the bays the driver was parked in were improperly marked.

Nazma Begum, 21, was slapped with a parking ticket in Warwick Road, Ealing, last November when she bought a pay-and-display voucher but put her car in a residents bay accidentally while she went into Thames Valley University to hand in an assignment.

However, the Airline and Airport Management student came across the website www.ticketfighter.co.uk and found the council’s marking mistake.

She said: “I didn’t realise I was parked in a residents’ parking bay and I couldn’t believe it when I came out and saw the ticket, as I had only been gone for a few moments.

“When I appealed to the council they refused it, so I took it to the parking adjudicator and the day before the hearing the council wrote back to me saying they were pulling out and were sorry for any inconvenience.

“To be honest I think they knew all along they were wrong but they still pressed me for money. It seems like a deliberate tactic from them, and I want to know why they haven’t stopped enforcing these bays if they know they are wrong, it’s been a month now.

“If we do something wrong we are punished for it, but they do not want to take responsibility for their actions and will not admit they are wrong. It’s very unfair.”

The man who runs the Ticketfighter website, who does not want to be named as he is an industry insider, says Ealing Council should stop enforcing all wrongly marked bays until they are sorted out.

He said: “These bays should only have one line. The council has got it wrong and it means they are unenforceable.

“Motorists have to abide by the law and so have the council.

“They can’t just go around putting down whatever road markings they want to. If they know it is wrong and are still enforcing it that is obtaining money by deception and is completely illegal.”

Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, the Labour transport spokesman, said he would be asking council officials what they intended to do about these parking problems. He said: “Now that this issue has been highlighted with the council, I want to know what action it will be taking to answer all its parking bays are properly marked.

“They will need to find out how many of these bays need repainting, otherwise the council opens itself up to further risk.”

Cllr Mahfouz also said unless the council acts fast to address the problem it risks allowing people to start parking in restricted bays and getting away with it.

Claire Vranch, a spokesman for Ealing Council, said the markings on the road were consistent with other London Boroughs.

She said: “Although we believe the bays in Warwick Road are marked clearly, we have reviewed this individual case and found there may be a technical problem with this particular bay, which we are investigating.”