A Sydney council has taken a tough approach to an irritating driving habit. Inner West Council has raised the penalty from $330 to $660 for drivers parking on a driveway or obstucting any part of it, unless it belongs to them.

Frustrations have grown with residents of the area submitting thousands of complaints over the selfish parker, who regularly invade the area looking for a free place to stash their vehicle before heading in to the city.

In 2024, the council received over 4,000 complaints about cars blocking driveways.

And a council spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'Fines and having the offending vehicle towed will occur following a complaint from a resident who has been affected by their driveway being blocked.

'Residents parking across their own driveways will not be fined or have their vehicle towed.'

The council said the response to the increased fine has been 'overwhelmingly positive' after the community asked them to step in

Councillor Chloe Smith said she understood residents' frustration at the problem and welcomed the change.

'There's absolutely a need for tougher measures particularly in the inner west where it's densely populated, we have narrow streets and parking is at a premium,' she said.

'I had a family contact me who relied on their cars to drop kids to childcare who couldn't exit their driveway, and also a person who had a loved one in hospital and needed to use their car to visit them.

'It can be a really frustrating and galling experience for people.'