Mario Balotelli has parking issues

Manchester City trouble-maker Mario Balotelli has been fined again, but this it is not the club dishing out the punishment. In fact, it was just a parking warden.

Balotelli parked his camouflaged Bentley Continental on double yellow lines, next to the Oast House. Moments later a warden swooped and left the striker and the owner of a 4×4, which was parked behind the Bentley, a parking ticket.

An onlooker said “I saw a camouflaged car trying to park near Flannels close to the Crown Court and knew straight away that it was Mario. He dumped it on yellows next to the Oast House and walked across to the shops. She did – and ticketed a 4 x 4 behind him. About 10 minutes later Mario came back with a friend who was in the 4 x 4, I think it may have been his minder. The friend grabbed the ticket off the car while Mario put his bags in the boot“. He went onto to say “I don’t think Mario was very impressed.“

Apparently, another bystander told the warden that he would report her if she did not issue the ticket.

Mario had recently dropped plans to challenge the decision to strip him of two weeks’ wages for discipline issues. In April, Mario had managed to clock up, an almost ridiculous, £10,000 in parking fines with his white Maserati. And this was impounded 27 times!

Rumours suggest that Mario may be leaving City after his recent bust-up with manager Roberto Mancini. But Mancini has backed his juvenile striker by saying that he would give Mario a “100 chances”. How sweet!