Two teams of contractors working for the same council painted double yellow lines underneath a legally-parked car - and then towed it away.
And when owner Ruth Ducker tried to find her VW Golf she was confronted by an empty space, governed by parking restrictions she could have sworn weren't there when she left it.
In fact, it took her three weeks to work out where her car had disappeared to.
When she finally received a notification from Lambeth Council, Ducker was told that she would have to pay £840 to get her car back. However, the mother of two refused and contested the fine - which had risen to an eye-watering £2,240 by the time the authority admitted its error.
It turned out that contractors had lifted the car out of harm's way while they painted the lines, then placed it carefully back. However, eagle-eyed parking enforcement officers impounded it later the same day.
"I was determined not to be walked on," Ducker told BBC News.
"I was determined not to have to admit and pay out for something I hadn't done wrong."
A council spokesman said the case was "unacceptable", and that the council had cancelled all the charges as soon as it became aware of the circumstances, blaming a "breakdown in communication" with contractors.
It has offered Ducker £150 in compensation.
