THE COUNCIL’S controversial ‘spy car’ is caught by an incensed Globe reader parked on the pavement in Wallasey - immediately next to a sign warning ‘no vehicles’.

The Smart car - decked out in Wirral Council livery, but operated under contract by NSL, the former NCP firm - is equipped with an 11ft periscope camera.

It is supposed to be used “primarily” to stop - or catch - drivers parking on zig zag lines outside schools.

But the reader who sent us this picture said: “This is no spy car - it’s a money spinning machine that is blatantly flouting the law.

“It’s breaking the law to enforce its own so-called law enforcement. We are now in a world where the people who are sent to ‘protect’ us are being dishonest them-selves.”

Liscard Conservative Cllr Leah Fraser said: “It’s one rule for them and another for us.

"If anyone else had parked on the pavement in a pedestrianised area there would have been a fixed penalty notice.

"The mass of laws and regulations that we all now have to cope with don’t seem to apply to Wirral Council.

“I have also asked the council to tell us where the images taken by this vehicle are being stored and who has access to them.

"Many of the images will include children and all the images should be subject to data protection laws. "In the meantime, perhaps someone would like to have a word with the driver of the vehicle and explain what double yellow lines are for."

The council’s director of technical services David Green said: “There is a significant issue with motorists parking on double yellow lines.

“In order for the camera car to carry out enforcement activity safely, it is sometimes necessary for the car to have special dispensation to park in some areas when carrying out enforcement.”