Driver Claire White was astounded when she returned to her parked car to find it hemmed in by newly painted yellow lines – and a ticket on her windscreen.

Ms White, 35, lives in London Road, Marlborough, where there is no parking for residents, so for many years she has been leaving her car round the corner in Kelham Gardens.

She was stunned to see the yellow lines had been painted. She said: “I couldn’t believe it. There were no signs up warning that this was going to happen.

“There was always an unwritten agreement that, because we don’t have any parking space on London Road, there would always be space for five cars in that part of Kelham Gardens.

“I have been parking there for 16 years and I haven’t even heard of any plan to increase parking restrictions in the street.

“To add insult to injury, my windscreen wiper blade had been torn off and my aerial taken away, but there is often vandalism to cars parked around there.”

Ms White, who works at Boots in the High Street, said: “Because I work in town, I don’t need my car for work. So I last saw it on Tuesday evening when I parked there. I couldn’t believe my eyes to come back on Thursday evening to find it with a parking ticket on it.”

The gap in the yellow lines where Ms White’s Citroen C1 stood has now been painted in so that the yellow lines run from the London Road junction to new marked bays, where parking is permitted for two hours.

But people who live in Kelham Gardens are pleased with the extra yellow lines. Mike Sloper said: “It used to be Marlborough’s overflow car park. There were cars parked all the way down here and emergency vehicles wouldn’t have got through. It is beautiful now.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “We would encourage Ms White to submit an appeal, and we will cancel the Penalty Charge Notice once we have been able to check all the details.

“Recent changes to the parking orders in Marlborough were fully advertised and consulted upon with local people and businesses.”