TWO lines of paving flags have left a council tenant facing threats of court action.

Carol Romanus was so fed up with parking problems on her York street that she laid the flags across her front garden, so she could park the family car there without damaging the grass.

But Carol's makeshift "mini car park" has got council chiefs in a real flap. They have written to the Clifton council house tenant and told her that taking her vehicle across the verge into her garden was against the law. They also warned that court action could follow unless she got official permission for a new access. Mother-of-three Carol said that she put down the slabs because there was often not enough space to park in Burton Stone Lane.

When cars parked on both sides of the road, buses and cars had to squeeze through small gaps, often scratching her Renault Clio.

Carol, 31, who suffers from a painful spinal disability, said: "It's ridiculous. If someone parks outside our house, we have to use the bus stop, which causes problems.

"Other times we have to park a couple of minutes' walk away up the street. I have a deterioration of the spine, so I really need to be near the house."

Carol, who is married to Darren, 30, said she had asked City of York Council to drop the kerb on the street to make parking easier.

She said other streets in the area have had the same work done. But the council told her that if she wanted it outside her home, she would have to fork out nearly £700.

She added: "I've asked the council to show some sympathy because of my condition. But because I'm not claiming Disability Living Allowance, I can't get the work done." Now it looks like Carol and Darren, and their children Josh, four, Chloe, three, and two-year-old Benjamin, will lose their doorstep car park, and will again have to battle for space with their neighbours.

A council spokeswoman stressed that the authority had not told Carol to take the slabs up. The problem was that she had not gained permission for a new vehicular access to her home, although she had inquired about doing so on three previous occasions, and presumably knew what it entailed.

She should contact the council if she had any queries about the legal process involved.

Updated: 10:22 Tuesday, May 24, 2005