SEVENOAKS District Council has held up its hands after vans belonging to council workers were spotted illegally parked.

This picture was taken by Nigel Duncum, of Vines Lane, Hildenborough, who is currently waging a compensation bid to get his cash back from Kent County Council after his car suspension was snapped by a pothole.

His latest tirade is against what he calls "council hypocrisy", after he spotted these two council vehicles parked on the pavement of Suffolk Way, behind Boots.

Council spokesman Daniel Whitmarsh said: "The vehicles pictured are those of our toilet cleaners, who were cleaning the bus station toilets.

"The vehicles were parked close to the toilets as the cleaners need access to their cleaning equipment and supplies, and on a Wednesday, when the photo was taken, the market is taking place on the nearby car park, so there are no nearby parking spaces.

"Although the staff have parked on a wide area of the pavement to allow adequate room for pedestrians, they should not park in this location.

"Should they receive a penalty charge notice, the individual staff would be liable to pay the charge."

He added the cleaners would be instructed not to park there in the future.

However, Mr Duncum was unimpressed by their excuse.

He said: "I think they are so hypocritical.

"I do decorating and if I had a job next to where I was parked I would still get a ticket."

He added he thought this might be a case of one rule for the council and another for everyone else.

Parking on the pavement is a matter which can be dealt with by police.

Pc John Boyden said: "Enforcement of parking restrictions is usually dealt with by enforcement officers employed by the local authority but police can deal with incidents where vehicles are causing an obstruction or parked in a dangerous position.

"In this case, we understand the council has dealt with the matter."