Way out of line! Bizarre parking fee scheme means a £25 fine for parking on a double yellow is CHEAPER than buying a £42 all-day ticket in Cambridge

Most motorists complain about expensive parking charges but pay them to avoid being fined an even greater amount.

But in one city it is now cheaper to pay the penalty for parking on double yellow lines than it is to use the car park provided by the council.

Drivers who choose to park illegally save money even if they are spotted by a traffic warden – while also getting their pick of any location.

Parking in Cambridge’s Grand Arcade shopping centre car park, which is run by the local council, costs £42 for a full day.

Cambridge city centre is becoming clogged with cars because it's cheaper to pay a fine than park legally

But the fine for leaving a vehicle on double yellow lines or on prohibited stretches of road is only £35 if the driver pays within two weeks.

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The pricing means leaving a car illegally right outside King’s College – one of the city’s most popular attractions – is now cheaper than using the council car park a ten-minute drive away.

Residents have complained that the ludicrous charging could encourage drivers to park illegally and risk blocking roads.

Cambridge residents say motorists are parking illegally and enjoying a cheaper day's sightseeing as a result

Jane Woodcock, 61, who lives on the outskirts of the city, said yesterday: ‘It is ridiculous that it costs more to legally park as it does for a fine. I don’t shop in Cambridge any more because of that.’

Mother-of-four Joy Njenje, 54, said: ‘You don’t want to walk with lots of shopping bags across the town especially if you’ve got children. I don’t think people want to get parking fines but I am shocked that it can cost more to park for a day in Cambridge than it is for a parking fine.’

It now costs £26 to park from 9am to 5pm at the Grand Arcade shopping centre and a further £1 for every additional hour – making the charge for 24 hours £42.

Punting on the river, shopping and sight-seeing attract those who wish to spend a whole day in Cambridge

Tim Ward, the city councillor responsible for parking, said: ‘We didn’t look at fines when setting the parking charges. We didn’t think of it.’

Cambridgeshire County Council gives out the parking fines, which are set nationally by the Department for Transport.

The authority confirmed only one ticket can be issued to a driver in every 24 hours, so those parked illegally only risk paying the fine once.