"Do as I say, not as I do" was the phrase which sprang to mind when architect Phil Bixby saw this traffic warden's van parked on double yellow lines.

Unfortunately for City of York Council's traffic wardens service, Mr Bixby, of Holgate Road, York, had a camera handy with which to record their slip-up.

Mr Bixby's snap, taken on a digital camera, is all the more ironic because the council has just launched an army of new-style traffic wardens armed with new powers and their own digital cameras to catch illegally-parked motorists in the act.

He said: "I was walking back from town with my daughter in Blossom Street at about 4pm on Sunday and we walked past this traffic warden booking cars outside the motorbike shop which were parked on a single yellow line.

"I saw the van on a double yellow line and just had to take a photo of it."

Terry Scott, patrol supervisor for City of York Council, said: "We don't usually park on double yellow lines for that reason. We have to adhere to the rules same as anybody else. We shouldn't park on double yellow lines unless there is a reason for it."

After making inquiries, however, Mr Scott said: "He was picking some cones up. It was one of our new drivers who was with one of our old drivers. We often do that when cones are there.

"I've been on to them both and they both say that was what they were doing."