MOTORISTS were furious after a parking suspension to accommodate Jamie Oliver and his film crew saw dozens of drivers hit with fines.

Southend Council defended its decision to issue 32 parking tickets at Seaway car park, claiming the signs were good enough at the weekend.

But dozens of drivers disagreed and claim the restrictions were misleading and others told how they did not see them.

Tom Case, 31, said: “When I got back to my car, I noticed other cars had a penalty charge notice. Once I got in mine I noticed I had one too - I thought it was a wind up.

“I couldn’t believe it, I thought “has my ticket fallen down?”. But no, it was clearly displayed.

I read on the PCN that I had parked in a restricted zone, but I had to go looking for the sign.

“It’s just ridiculous - I paid £10 for the entire day. I wish I hadn’t paid at all as I would’ve been £10 better off. I didn’t even notice the signs and had no reason to suspect a restriction because other cars were parked there.”

Kevin Dark, 40, from Southend, said: “I was hunting around for a space everywhere, so I went into Seaway car park.

“There was a couple getting into their car to leave so I waited and pulled in among a whole row of cars.

“At this point I didn’t notice any signs at all. When I got back after a few hours and saw I had a ticket, I was annoyed because I had paid through the Mobon app, so I thought maybe it hadn’t registered.

“But when I looked at the ticket and saw it was because of parking restrictions, I went walking around the car park and saw three or four other cars with fines and thought this is crazy.

“I then walked even further and eventually high up on a lamp post, I saw a yellow sign which showed the restricted location to be an aerial photo of the car park which didn’t specify which bays you couldn’t park in.

“You have to be a cartography expert just to find out where you can actually park.”

Lee Wildman, 26, added: “I didn’t see a sign as I drove into the car park but then noticed there was a sign next to the bay I parked in about a parking suspension, but it had no dates or any information on it at all.

“The picture of the sign the warden used as evidence was a completely different sign to the one next to the bay I was in.”

Essex chef Essex chef is currently filming at Southend Pier for a Christmas special of Friday Night Feast. Rocketman’s Taron Egerton joined the set on September 13 for filming. Councillor Ron Woodley, said: “In total, 23 bays are suspended from public use whilst the film crew are on site. Four signs were installed in the car park to advise drivers of the suspended bays, and we urge anyone who feels they have been given a ticket unfairly to follow the appeal process.”