CALL it white line fever — the apparent eagerness of local parking rangers to slug unsuspecting motorists breaking a little-known law on a quiet suburban street.

The leafy stretch of ­Ronald Ave, Greenwich, in Sydney’s north, may appear to be the perfect spot for drivers who work nearby. But it is almost impossible to park there legally.

And most of the drivers don’t realise until they ­receive a fine in the mail.

There are no street signs and leaving your car almost anywhere in the street will see you break the rule that makes it illegal to park within 3m of double white lines.

Marissa Banu-Lawrence, 24, was a sitting duck when she was stung by the 3m rule at 8.37 one morning, just five minutes after leaving her ­vehicle to go to work.

In an appeal to the Office of State Revenue, she asked why the area was not signposted and why council officers booked people so soon after they parked.

The OSR responded with a link to the road rules, a demand for $242 and a statement saying signposting was not required “as it forms part of the general road rules”.

Ms Banu-Lawrence said: “If they wanted to address this problem they could have done so a long time ago. It is a blatant revenue raiser.”

Lane Cove Council raised $1.4 million in parking fines in 2015-16, the highest amount since at least 2012, according to the NSW Government. The council also dished out a record 9279 fines in that financial year, 871 more fines than the previous year.

Fighting parking fines Fighting parking fines

Another motorist was fined three times in a week for parking too close to the double lines. The woman, who did not want to be named, only knew she had parked illegally when she received three fines in the post a week later. It cost her $759.

A council spokeswoman said they would permanently remove the “unnecessary” double white lines in the next four weeks. Since it was a straight stretch of road, she said there was no legal requirement to put up no-parking signs.

“The primary method of issuing infringements in Lane Cove is by placing them on the vehicle,” she said.

“In some instances, particularly in Ronald Avenue, the very issue the rangers are seeking to enforce — not parking within three metres of double lines — means they may not have the ­opportunity to safely park and place them (fines) physically on the vehicle.”