Residents of a Wimbledon street were shocked to discover their road had been suddenly declared a no parking zone last week - until they realised they were the victims of a council blunder.

Last week the council erected a sign in Alfreton Close warning that parking in the street between 8.30am and 9.30pm was illegal.

Angry residents contacted the Wimbledon Guardian on Thursday afternoon when the notice was put up without any warning.

However, by Friday afternoon council workers had arrived to remove the sign and the council later admitted that putting it up had been a mistake.

Resident Andrew Downs said that the news had caused panic among people living in the street, many of whom were expecting visitors to stay for this week's Championships.

He said frantic efforts had been made to contact residents who were out of the country and faced having cars clamped.

He added: "It caused a great deal of worry and I would like to know how much the mistake cost taxpayers."

William Brierly, the council's cabinet member for planning and traffic, apologised for the inconvenience caused.

He said: "As soon as we were notified that a sign had been wrongly displayed, members of the council's traffic and highways team went to Wimbledon to take down the sign in Alfreton Close and check that all the parking restriction signs on display in the area were correct."