News: Double-yellow lines send Kingston residents around the bend

KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES, the town where Saxon kings were once crowned and centuries later, the Hawker Hurricane fighter plane was built can, today, boast a further claim to fame: the location of one of the UK’s shortest double-yellow lines.

The lines, which are curved and measure just 18in, lie between the opening of a small, private car park on one side, and the mouth of a narrow street on the other. They are not large enough for a tyre, let alone the complete vehicle.

Oliver English, who spotted the lines, said, “I think it’s stupid and a bit pointless.”

Another Kingston resident said, “Not even a unicycle could park there. What a waste of time.”

A Kingston Borough Council spokesman said: “Without the markings at the corner, drivers might assume that they could park there.”

The town’s lines are just the latest to raise quizzical eyebrows. Last year, Driving reported on a series of head-scratching double-yellow lines including:

• London: double-yellow lines in a gap just 9in wide, painted between a taxi rank and parking bays.
• Swindon: double-yellow lines painted along both sides of an alleway just 4ft wide.
• Nottingham: double-yellow lines painted along the length of a cycle lane 53in wide.