The broken yellow lines on the left mark out illegal loading bays in Holland St, central Wellington, on Tuesday. The city council has confirmed the culprits have probably been at it for years.

Wellington's yellow paint "cowboys" have been at it again, taking the parking law into their own hands.

Wellington City Council confirmed illegal loading zones have been painted in Holland St, off Tory St in the central city, and the unknown culprits have been at it for years.

Each time the council removed the lines, someone painted them back.

GOOGLE EARTH A Google Street View of Holland St, from 2015, shows a yellow-lined loading zone on the left.

Lambton ward councillor Nicola Young raised the issue at a council meeting on Tuesday, at which parking changes for Holland St were being discussed as part of streetscape improvements.

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The proposed street changes included converting two of the seven pay-and-display car parks into "an official facility for loading on the street".

Those that were already on the street were painted by "local cowboys", Young said.

"Isn't it funny how people have been complaining there were not enough loading zones, but up until now Holland St didn't actually have any."

Young also raised concerns about the number of "undesirables" hanging out near the neighbouring backpackers, and locals' beliefs that "illegal substances are being traded".

Council spokesman Richard MacLean said it was a challenging task to find who was responsible for the "informal" loading bays.

It was clearly someone local. "We are concerned people are trying to set roading policy on the hoof."

Emily Alleway, from the council's urban design team, told councillors the loading zones in the street were "self-painted".

Adding a legitimate loading zone will probably be postponed until after the nearby St James Theatre was earthquake-strengthened, which starts mid-year.

The work will be part of a plan to transform Holland St into a trendy Melbourne-style laneway, like Eva and Egmont streets in the central city.

The completed project would improve safety, add character and connect Holland St, York St, the St James laneway, Courtenay Pl and Taranaki St, Alleway said.

Last year, Aro Valley resident Russell Taylor confessed he had been painting yellow lines along the narrow and winding Holloway Rd, in a one-man crusade to stop cars parking either side of it.

A couple of months later, the council agreed to make honest lines out of his illegal road markings.