Parking wardens enraged motorists by leaving their van on double yellow lines - while they handed out parking tickets.

Seaside day-trippers were left speechless after officials paid no attention to parking restrictions as they penalised drivers for doing the same.

Peter Timothy, 43, who was visiting the coast at Tynemouth, North Tyneside, with wife Lorna and his children snapped the cheeky inspectors as they ticketed car after car even though they could see people were struggling to find places.

The dad-of-three, of Westerhope, Newcastle, said: "Tynemouth was really busy over the Easter weekend and people were finding it difficult to park.

"Nobody seemed to quite know what the rules were because it was a bank holiday.

"A lot of people had parked in bays outside of the Grand Hotel thinking it would be alright but the inspectors thought differently.

"But what really annoyed people was that they themselves were parked on double yellow lines.

"I saw one lady remonstrating with the wardens about this and they looked as though they couldn't care less. It was like she was talking to herself.

"I don't see how one rule can apply to motorists and another to workers from North Tyneside Council. It is not like they were the police.

"My family and I eventually managed to find a spot in a side-street so I don't know why the parking inspectors couldn't have done the same."

Philip Hayes, 45, of Albert Avenue, Wallsend, who surfs regularly off the coast at Tynemouth, said: "The parking systems seems fairly arbitrary here.

Sometimes people are parked everywhere, up on pavements and on double-yellows and you never see an wardens.

"Other times practically everyone is getting a ticket.

"You can go and buy a ticket in the centre of Tynemouth which is valid for the seafront which costs less money. It seems stupid.

"I have recently moved back from the US with my wife and nothing surprises me about what traffic wardens get up to in this country. The whole place is awash with public service officials making life difficult.

"I can understand why people were upset. The whole parking system down here needs a rethink."

North Tyneside Council initially said police wardens had given them permission to park on the double-yellow lines.

They claimed Northumbria Police traffic wardens can grant permission for up to twenty minutes for statutory bodies carrying out their public duty.

But the force denied this was the case saying no such rule existed and officers would never give permission for council officials to be parked on double-yellow lines for any length of time.

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: "It seems highly unlikely that one of our parking wardens would give the ok for North Tyneside Council officials to park illegally.

"We would be interested in finding out exactly which of our officers, if any, agreed this was ok. There is no such rule in place."

Yesterday the council was forced to admit their wardens did not have permission to break the law.

A spokesman for North Tyneside Council said: "Front Street was very busy that day.

"Officers were under the impression that they had permission from a police traffic warden in Front St to park for a short time on double yellows so they could check ticket machines and issue tickets where people had not paid or had overstayed.

"They were also under the impression that police have the power to allow statutory bodies to park for short periods if there is no alternative, so they can carry out their duties.

"If this is not the case, we apologise and will of course abide by the law."