We were handed £1,250 fine for parking on OWN driveway because of outdated law

A COUPLE have been left fuming after they were slapped with a £1,250 fine for parking on their OWN driveway.

Judy and Ed Craine have been parking in the spot outside their home in San Francisco, California for the last 36 years without any issues.

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But the pair recently received a bizarre letter telling them they are now banned from parking there.

The authorities also handed them a whopping £1,250 fine – and even threatened to charge the couple £208 a day to continue parking outside their home.

Ed said: “To all of a sudden to be told you can’t use something that we could use for years, it’s startling.”

It’s thought an anonymous tip off from an angry neighbour led officials to use an outdated law designed to “preserve neighbourhood aesthetics”.

The decades-old law bans residents from keeping cars in their yards.

According to CBS, Dan Sider, the city’s planning chief, said: “I recognise that the property owner is frustrated. I think I would feel the same way in their situation.

“But the Planning Code doesn’t allow for the city to grandfather illegal uses on account of their having flown below the radar for a length of time.”

The authorities told the couple they could potentially receive a waiver if they proved the parking spot was historically located on their property.

Judy told KGO-TV: “We could be grandfathered in. If we show them a historical photo that showed a car… or a horse-drawn buggy in the carport.”

The Craines found a photo from 34 years ago showing the car in the spot – but officials said it wasn’t old enough.

The couple then found a 1938 photo which appeared to show a car or a horse-and-car pulling into the parking spot – but stubborn officials said the picture wasn’t clear enough.

In the end, San Francisco city officials ended up waiving the fine after the couple agreed to stop parking on the pavement.