A new CCTV ‘spy car’ unveiled to crack down on dangerous parking outside schools had to be taken off the road after doling out fines incorrectly, it has been revealed.

Bradford Council bought the £49,950 car earlier this year, saying it would help to keep pupils safe by fining illegal parkers up to £70.

But the authority has been forced to refund all the fines handed out so far, after it discovered the hi-tech kit was malfunctioning and innocent drivers could have been stung.

Councillor John Pennington (Con, Bingley) yesterday said he was “horrified” at the situation and called for the Council to abandon the scheme.

But Councillor Andrew Thornton, executive member for the environment, said the car had now been fixed and was working properly.

The car started patrolling schools and other illegal parking hot-spots in June. Its aim was to clamp down on those parking illegally, such as on double yellow lines or zig-zag markings, and issue them with penalty charge notices of £70, or £35 if paid early.

But later that month it emerged it was not capturing data accurately and those fined could have done nothing wrong.

Only five motorists had been fined by that point. All five have now had their money returned to them.

The problems have only now been made public because Coun Pennington had asked the Council how the project was going. He called on the Council to “abort the idea altogether” and said the Council should ask for compensation for the amount of time staff had spent on the scheme.

Coun Thornton said he was only made aware of the problems in September. He said the supplier replaced the car’s systems at their own cost and it was now working properly.

He said: “It is disappointing it didn’t work straight away. However, the reasons we bought the car remain valid – which is that its primary purpose is to carry out enforcement where other methods would prove difficult or impossible.”