The driver loaded his load of pub crawls on Saturday afternoon outside the main entrance of a hotel just south of Christchurch rather than using the usual landing place – the pub’s car park at the back.
But it meant using half the footpath and parking on yellow nonstop lines outside The Famous Grouse in Lincoln.
The driver left the bus there and went inside with the partygoers.
The bus was carrying members of a Christchurch sports club on a nationwide pub crawl.
The yellow lines the driver parked on were added a while back to increase safety for pedestrians, who use a crosswalk connecting the busy Gerald St.
When there were parking garages on Gerald St, motorists often saw people not stepping on the intersection, with many near misses and the occasional hit by vehicles.
The bus was illegally parked for some time before being reported to the police.
An agent from the station, a few hundred yards away, arrived, spoke to the driver in the pub, warned him and the bus was removed from its illegal spot.
Parking on yellow lines can be fined $60 and on the sidewalk $40.
The incident comes as authorities begin to tighten up against illegal parking this week.
Vehicles with an expired or no certificate of eligibility and registration will also be on the parking attendant hit list.
But until now, parking tickets have been a rarity in Selwyn, with the district council favoring an educational approach.
“Following community feedback and an increasing number of complaints, the council recognizes that there is now a need to issue infractions for violations that compromise parking safety or are negligent for other road users,” said a district council spokesman.