IT'S called a technicality. An extra line appeared on some of York's new parking bays which does not conform to the precise legal template.

A less rule-bound nation would shrug off such trivialities. The road paintwork was clear enough for the most myopic motorist to follow.

But in Britain today the simplest task is entangled in paperwork and smothered in small print. No wonder the ordinary person emits a quiet cheer when the authorities are hoist by their own procedures.

Today's story brings to mind Bill Robson. Three years ago this septuagenarian photographer from Bedale created panic among highways officials by successfully challenging his first parking ticket. His pictures showed signs in wrong places and double yellow lines without a bar to mark their end. Pedantic, perhaps; unlawful, undoubtedly.

It is tempting to feel a spark of sympathy for City of York Council, which has already suffered grievously from self-inflicted parking blunders. Then you remember how two North Yorkshire police officers escaped a speeding conviction in Cleveland by proving the thin black border around the speed camera warning sign had not been prescribed by the Department of Transport.

If the law enforcers can do it, why shouldn't the rest of us?

Go a minute over your allotted time in a parking bay and you can get a ticket. No argument: rules is rules. On that basis, York council must be ready to refund any motorists it fined illegally.

Updated: 11:26 Friday, October 07, 2005