A photograph of a marked police car that was ticketed after overstaying its welcome on a Hastings street has gone viral on social media, prompting many to comment that the fine was deserved and that the police deserve "no special treatment" when their parking goes awry.
The photograph was originally posted to Facebook by a Hawke's Bay woman who noted that the car had been parked "all day" outside her workplace in Hastings.
The location on Eastbourne St is near to both the Hastings District Court and the Hastings Central Police Station.
She told the Herald that she first noticed the car at 8am and saw at lunchtime that it had been ticketed. It remained in the same spot until at least 3pm and was then moved.
The woman said that park was a two-hour park in a busy part of town and the driver should have expected a ticket, noting that he missed a trick in not parking in the free parking one block over.