A PRACTICAL joker left cops red-faced after giving them a prank parking ticket when he spotted their police van sitting on double yellow lines.

Billy Frew clocked the marked van outside his shop Billy’s Barbers in Bank Street on November 15 and decided to play a joke on the unsuspecting officers.

Billy, who had previously ordered a wad of fake parking tickets from eBay to prank his pals, wrote the officers a ticket before slapping it on their windscreen.

He said: “My customers dared me to do it. It was all a bit of fun. That part of Bank Street is closed off just now because of the road works, so it’s not like they were causing an obstruction.

“I got a pile of those fake parking tickets which I was using to play tricks on my customers and pals so when i seen the police van was parked on double yellow lines I thought it would be funny to give them a ticket.

“They probably had good reason to be there, I hope they took it in good fun.”

Billy took a picture of his handiwork and posted it to the Memories of Irvine Facebook page where more than 70 people posted comments, mostly believing the joke ticket was real.

However a quick read of the small print revealed it was just the handiwork of the local barber. It reads: “Promise to never park like an idiot again within 28 days.

“Agree that you see the funny side of being pranked with this joke novelty parking ticket and also agree that life is too short to hold a grudge against the person that just pranked you. 

“You now have 28 days yo figure out how to prank the person that just pranked you.” 
Police Scotland confirmed officers were on Bank Street responded to a report of concern for a person.

A spokeswoman said: “Officers attended and a man was taken back to his home address and left in the care of family. 

"They were only in the area for around 15/20 minutes, however.”