Other drivers have since praised the man for sharing what the dodgy parking inspectors had done, pointing out that if the idea was used in reverse it meant free parking forever
A driver has been left fuming after a dodgy council decision in a popular European tourist spot.
The man took to social media to share his disgust at the cheeky move by parking inspectors in Rome.
Italian Stefano Angeloni didn’t expect to go viral when he posted a short clip of his car, which he had legally parked on a street in Rome – or so he thought. When the Roman motorist returned to his car, he found fresh lines parked around its tyres, and a parking fine stuck to his windscreen.
In the Italian capital, coloured lines are used to mark where people can or can’t park. Essentially, white lines painted on the road mean you can park there without buying a ticket. Blue lines mean you’re required to pay for parking.
The lines around Angeloni’s car had been painted from white to blue. The fine, added to his car after City Council of Rome workers had changed the line colour from underneath him, came to €29.40 (£24.91).
In the clip, Angeloni can be heard saying: “Look at this fantastic parking spot I found. I leave my car in a white-lined space; then, one night, they come by and paint over the white lines with blue ones. Obviously, they couldn’t paint underneath my car — or anyone else’s — so the white lines I parked in are now blue.”
He added: “The result? A nice fat fine. Fantastic, right? We’re in a fantastic city.”
The video has since gone viral, garnering more than a million views, while the comments section has racked up plenty of comments on the cheeky move by the city council.
One user said: “You gave me a great idea. Thank you so much. I will never pay for parking again, but rather buy a can of white paint and a brush, so I can sign up for my lifetime free parking membership.”
A second added: “The wheel is on the white one, you don’t have to pay.”
While a third chipped in that the the situation was “crap”.
The driver’s daughter wrote on Instagram that “that this was posted by my dad by mistake and he didn’t even realise how viral it had gone”. It is unknown if Angeloni has contested the fine from the City Council of Rome in the wake of the parking ticket.
