Have you ever been on the wrong side of a £60 fine for doing something as innocuous as having two wheels parked on a pavement, perhaps to allow more space for fellow drivers to move past on a busy road?

We even know of one instance in Croydon where a car was towed for being on a red route after 8am on a weekday when (a) the tow truck lifted the vehicle before 8am; (b) the car was not on a red route; and (c) it was Saturday.

But you try getting the fine back, or that chunk of your life that it takes putting forward totally reasonable points to the jobsworths behind the desk at the pound.

So imagine our surprise, then, when we came across this scene on near a busy junction in South Croydon this afternoon.

There was Croydon Council’s preposterous “Little Brother” camera car, parked generously in the middle of a busy road, causing hold-ups and tooting horns for at least five minutes.

Not a very good example to set, now is it?