This is the moment a CCTV Smart car designed to snoop on motorists was spotted parked on a double yellow line.

Passerby Julian Dawson photographed Kingston Council’s road enforcement car after finding it parked in Clarence Street.

Motoring campaigners said they were stunned to discover the car was granted dispensation to park on double yellow lines and branded the council “hypocritical”.

Mr Dawson said: “I was having a cigarette outside the pub when I saw the parking enforcement officers’ vehicle was waiting on the double yellow line for four to five minutes.

“They drove off when they noticed I was taking pictures of their vehicle. If I had been parking there they would have given me a fine, so why don’t they get one?”

Kingston Council gives parking regulators NSL powers to issue fines, collect data on motorists using bus lanes and report anyone committing “moving traffic” violations.

Motorists caught on a double yellow line are charged as much as £110, but Kingston Council allows NSL dispensation to catch drivers.

Campaigner Peter Roberts, of the Drivers’ Alliance, dubbed the car’s double-yellow parking as “scandalous”.

He said: “If they expect to prosecute people for breaking the law then they should at least be forced to abide by it themselves.”

A council spokesman said: “Vehicles, when used in the service of a local authority in pursuance of statutory powers or duties, are provided with a dispensation that allows them to be located in any place where contraventions can be safely observed.

“On this occasion the vehicle was observing a vehicle parked in contravention at the bus stop in Clarence Street.”