EXTRA yellow lines are to be painted in a York city centre street - as more motorists complain they have been unfairly booked for parking there.

Several readers contacted the Evening Press after we reported on Saturday how a driver had successfully appealed to an independent adjudicator against a ticket issued for parking in Davygate during the evening.

The driver told the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) he was confused by double yellow lines painted outside what appeared to be parking bays.

City of York Council said then it had told attendants not to book any more motorists until it had reviewed the layout.

It said today it would now add yellow lines to the back of the bays, as well as leaving existing ones in place.

It said it had kept lines to a minimum in the past because it wanted to be sensitive in a conservation area.

A spokesman said: "As the law stands, the council is fully entitled to enforce the parking restrictions so long as the sign is in place, and we did so for many years. The yellow lines were something that we added to help motorists who said they had been confused by this."

Drivers who contacted the paper said they had never realised they were not allowed to park inside the double yellow lines - until they got a ticket.

Susanne Lammiman, 29, of Clifton, said she had genuinely believed it was a parking bay, while William Burgeson claimed: "They should play fair and not try to catch people out."

Brian Calpin, 68, of Haxby Road, said: "It looked like a parking bay. It was very confusing."

Marc Terry, 38, of Stockton Lane, said he was booked one night in November after leaving his car in Davygate outside Borders. "I genuinely thought I could park there. It's unfair," he said.

Mr Terry said he had appealed against the ticket to the council, but his appeal was rejected. He claimed no one told him about the right to appeal to NPAS, and he would have appealed too had he known.

Claire Pegler said: "I parked there with confidence that it was legal to do so," she said.

She said she now felt she was entitled to a full refund.

Damon Copperthwaite, acting assistant director for city development, said it was important that parking restrictions across the city were both clear and legal.

A spokeswoman said it stated on the parking ticket that people had the right to appeal, and directed them to the appropriate website for more details.

Updated: 11:17 Tuesday, January 24, 2006