BOLTON Council has apologised and refunded a dad who was fined for parking outside his own house.

Waseem Khan received a ticket for parking outside his property in Herons Way off Manchester Road — where there is a yellow line in place.

But dad-of-one Mr Khan queried why the yellow line was needed on the quiet residential street and contested the fine — only to have his appeal thrown out.

But after contacting The Bolton News, it has been revealed that the line was put in place to help residents with parking issues caused by Bolton Community College’s former Manchester road campus.

The college was demolished in 2011 and it is understood that the council is now looking at removing the lines outside Mr Khan’s house.

As a result, the authority has refunded the 32-year-old’s fine and apologised for the inconvenience.

The married father-of-one said: “I have lived here for a year and never understood why the yellow line is still here — no one from town parks here.

“I got the ticket as I was helping my wife’s elderly mum into the house — I was parked up for two minutes and when I came out the ticket was on the car and the person had run off.

“I think getting fined for parking on your own doorstep is a bit of a joke — where are you supposed to park?”

Mr Khan does have a driveway where he parks one vehicle — but he pointed out that a lamppost prevents him using another available space on the drive.

He said: “I am pleased that the council have seen sense — I think the whole neighbourhood will be pleased with the result.

“It is your own house and you should be able to park there, I was very frustrated and that is why I contacted The Bolton News.

“This is a victory for common sense and it is good that residents here and family members and visitors will be able to park freely.”

The council apologised to Mr Khan but pointed out that the refund was a ‘one-off’ action.

A spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Mr Khan and we will be refunding his fine.

"This refund is purely a one-off payment because of the unique circumstances surrounding this particular parking case.”