A MOTORIST was given a parking ticket for leaving his car 20 yards from a bus stop - and claims the council repainted the markings after issuing the fine.

Jim Keenan says there were no yellow lines on Ashton Road in Gourock when he left his car back in March.

He was attending a celebration at Gourock Yacht Club to makr the first anniversary of his sister Sharon Pollock receiving a new kidney from her nephew Craig Meechan.

He left the car overnight but was shocked to find a parking ticket on the windscreen the following morning.

Jim, who lives in Lansbury Street in Gibshill, has tried and failed to appeal the fine twice on the grounds that there were no visible yellow lines on the road.

These have since been repainted on the stretch - which he says only strengthens his case.

Council chiefs however are refusing to back down, claiming the road markings were 'indistinct' at the time.

Jim said: "When I parked my car it was a murky, rainy night.

"There were no yellow lines and I was 28 paces from the bus stop. So I thought I was fine.

"I'm not accepting the decision - it's ludicrous."

The council rebuffed Jim's appeal and he then took his case to the The Parking and Bus Lane Tribunal for Scotland - an independent Scottish government run body which has the final say on parking fines.

He explained: "They said that any motorist with due diligence would have known that parking there would be a road traffic offence as it's a bus stop, but there were no yellow lines and I was parked miles from the stance.

"I have driven buses all my days and I've never seen a bus stop so big, you could park two buses in the space!"

Eight months on and Jim is refusing to pay the fine.

He says the photos he took back in March show there were no yellow lines - and questions why they were repainted if they were visible.

However a spokesperson for Inverclyde Council says Jim is in the wrong.

They said: “Mr Keenan was illegally parked which is why he got a penalty charge notice.

"The Highway Code is very clear about parking at or near a bus stop."

The spokesperson admitted that the road markings were not clear at the time but added that the bus stop sign on the lamp-post was.

They said: “The Parking & Bus Lane Tribunal for Scotland rejected Mr Keenan’s appeal and confirmed that he should not have parked at the bus stop and that the parking ticket was valid.

"Mr Keenan challenged this decision but his second appeal was also rejected.

"The ruling was that, while the road markings were indistinct at the time, they were clear enough for any reasonably diligent driver to tell there was a bus top there.

"The bus stop sign is also clearly visible in Mr Keenan’s own photographs.”