In the wake of complaints from drivers, the City of Hamilton has retaliated against motorists openly flouting its parking rules by advertising their lawbreaking with orange windshield stickers.

Over three hours yesterday, 182 errant cars at the City Hall, No 1 Shed, No 5 Shed and Par-la-Ville car parks got prominently slapped with the bright-coloured stickers.

“These stickers are a notification to drivers that they are not going unnoticed,” said City secretary Edward Benevides, who assured The Royal Gazette it was no April’s Fool’s joke.

“Although our 2014 ordinance was invalidated, that doesn’t mean they get to park for free with no consequences.”

Mr Benevides was referring to the court ruling that struck down the City’s right to clamp cars.

With enforcement flagging behind, the notifications were deployed “to tell people they are parking inappropriately, and let people know who is bucking the system”.

Licence numbers of offending vehicles are also being noted, in the hope of taking further action against rogue drivers.

The stickers also come in bright green, Mr Benevides added, but the orange variety comes with more infraction options to check off.

For drivers taken aback by the stickers, Mr Benevides said the British equivalents — called penalty charge notices — were considerably harsher.

“The PCN is a massive sticker, and it really sticks too,” he said. “We’re not that bad.”