Motoring organization the CA (Car Association) is advising drivers across the UK to take cans of yellow spray paint on their journeys tonight after receiving reports of weather happy parking wardens exploiting snow obscured parking spaces on the say so of local councils.
The unusual request is recommended as an accompaniment to the standard provisions such as a blanket or a torch, to thwart snow covered road markings being used as an excuse to ticket cars in legitimate parking spaces.
The spray should be used to recreate on the snow the covered road markings surrounding a vehicle where a parking space would otherwise be clearly denoted.
A CA spokesman said, 'Unfortunately councils will stop at nothing to punish the motorist. The spray painting of road markings in the snow should prevent drivers from having their financial appendix removed via their rectum by the over zealous hand of the exchequer by demonstrating their knowledge of the local parking system.'
'We ask drivers to be extra vigilant as we have had several calls to us claiming wardens in snow buggies had already taken to painting some of the public's temporary spray spaces white to allow ticketing to proceed.'
Councils in some parts of Scotland are reported to have employed parking wardens from as far a field as Luxembourg and Israel to supplement their number to boost revenue in the cold snap.
A Scottish resident felt Scotland had sacrificed much already without the additional wardens being put on patrol.
'The amount of salt being used to grit the road has created a serious shortage up here. I think they would be much better served using that to harden the nations arteries. There is now a real danger of me dying two years later than planned.'