A DISABLED man is furious after he ended up with double fine for parking outside his OWN house.

Blue badge holder John Williams, from Lyle Road, who has poor mobility, found himself falling foul of tough parking restrictions imposed by Inverclyde Council while its firework display was on.

Road chiefs created a strict no parking zone round the Battery Park to prevent parking chaos at their annual display.

But residents got caught up in it through no fault of their own.

Mr Williams says he was shocked to find a ticket on his car on Saturday afternoon and took it inside his house.

Just minutes later 'overzealous' wardens struck again by returning to slap another penalty notice on his car.

Mr Williams was left counting the cost of the display as he was fined £120.

He was one of a number of elderly residents in his block of flats who fell foul of wardens while parked outside their properties.

Bemused John said: "I can't walk to the end of the street so I don't know where I was supposed to park.

"It is ridiculous.

"I noticed my car had a ticket and took it inside to have a look at it and to see what to do next.

"While I was inside my house, they put another notice on the window!

"I couldn't believe it."

His outraged neighbour Andrew McKnight was also hit a with a penalty for parking in his usual spot outside his house in the same street.

He said: "I have lived there for 40 years and we have had all kinds of massive events in the Battery Park, the circus, the Highland Games and all sorts.

"But I have always left my car right where it was and I have never been fined before.

"It is outrageous.

"There were cars with parking tickets all the way up Lyle Road."

All the residents face £60 fines.

Andrew, 71, said: "We will be charged £30 if we pay straight away.

"That is to stop you disputing it - I think this is completely unacceptable."

When the Tele contacted Inverclyde Council they backed down and said they would cancel all those fines - but they want residents to prove their car was parked up before the restrictions came into force at noon last Saturday.

A spokesperson said: “The fireworks display at Battery Park is always very popular and this year there was a record turnout.

"We always put parking restrictions in place in the streets surrounding Battery Park to make sure people park safely and responsibly.

"The teams who put the cones out took CCTV footage of all the vehicles that were parked before the restrictions were activated.

"While we had to issue tickets to all the vehicles that were parked in the restricted areas, we are cancelling those where there is clear evidence that the vehicle was in place before the restrictions went live.

"Anyone who feels that this applies to them should contact the number on the penalty notice."