We were handed £160 parking ticket after moving our car to safety when driveway was under 10ft of water in flood hell

A FAMILY was handed a £160 parking ticket after they moved their car when their driveway was 10ft underwater.

Amber Evans was left stunned when she was slapped with the hefty fine for illegal parking after moving their vehicle to safety during the floods in New South Wales.

She told 9news.com.au: “It was like two inches from coming inside the house.

“We didn’t feel safe moving our car back into the gutter as it was full of water, the driveway was full of water.”.

But the next day the family were left stunned when they were hit with a $283 (£160) fine by Cessnock City Council for illegal parking on a median strip.

She added: “Any other day of the week I could understand but we were parked there to save our car from being flooded.”

Evans said the day the fine was issued the area was still under a flood warning.

She said their backyard was flooded while they could not use the toilets and their children had been evacuated.

She added: “My seven-year-old was at his grandmother’s home crying about whether he was going to come back to a house.

“I found it’s stressful enough going through the flooding, even though we were lucky for (floodwaters) not to go inside, without needing to add on the next day the rangers are out fining us for having our cars parked safely.

“It is very disheartening to see Cessnock City Council fining residents for saving their possessions.”

Cessnock City Council said in a statement that parking fines were issued to cars “illegally parked in areas that had been, but were no longer, subject to flooding”.

The statement read: “The ranger who issued the tickets was unaware that the street had flooded the previous day as there was no evidence such as floodwater, flood debris or road closed signage.

“Council has written to Revenue NSW advising that it would support a caution being issued instead of a fine.”

But Evans insists the ticket was issued unfairly and has called on the council to apologise to those affected.

“It is still a mark on my husband’s licence, in return, that can affect his job,” she said.

“It’s not about getting the fine taken away, it is the fact this shouldn’t be happening.

“During a flood event, a natural disaster, it wasn’t the time to be out fining people whose cars were on higher ground.”

Meanwhile, last month a man was slapped with a fine after failing to pay to park in a disabled bay – despite using a blue badge.

Another driver was hit with a £100 fine for leaving his car in a car park for just 25 minutes.

A parking ticket expert has revealed his five top tips to follow when you’re fined.