OOPS... Basildon Council’s spy car is in trouble again, this time because of its nickname – the Beast.

Parking enforcement officials with the council could be in for a monster telling-off for using the term to describe the controversial CCTV Smart car.

The car catches an average of 24 motorists a day, but once snared 54 in just 24 hours.

Residents who have been caught by the £50,000 spy machine have snapped back at the name, saying it proves the main aim of the car is simply to ruthlessly hunt down motorists.

However, parking chiefs say they meant no offence and only adopted the nickname in a tongue-in-cheek way.

The distinctive white car, which is armed with a CCTV camera, started patrolling in the district in September, meting out £60 fines by the truckload to motorists caught parking on double yellow lines or in other places where they shouldn’t be.

The nickname came to light when a PowerPoint presentation , compiled by council parking officials, made its way on to the internet.

The papers, which were part of a presentation to the British Parking Association, start by describing the car as the “Beast of Basildon”.

The second page, which outlines the council’s aims with the vehicle, states “Welcome to the Beast”.

Taxi driver Gary Lynch, 65, of Great Oxted, Basildon, who was given a fine when he stopped to help an old lady into her home, said: “This isn’t a joking matter. They can call it the Beast or whatever they want, but it’s not funny when you get a fine just for doing the decent thing.”

The vehicle uses GPS, infrared and automatic number plate recognition technologies and can snap illegal parkers without even stopping.

It’s new nickname comes just a week after the Echo published a photo of the car parked illegally on a pavement and a yellow line in Wickford, while the driver carried out “vital paperwork”.

Glyn Thomas, 40, from Wickford, who was also fined, added: “The name is quite fitting because it seems like they just want to ruthlessly hunt down motorists for cash.”

But Brian Boyce, manager of technical services and enforcement for the council, played down the nickname.

He said: “The title was given to it by a member of the public and we adopted it for the presentation to the British Parking Association with tongue firmly in cheek.

“We do not view the smart car as ‘the Beast’, but as an effective tool that enables enforcement of priority areas, where foot patrols are harder to carry out.”