A thrifty Scot paid for a holiday to Spain with her husband by renting out her driveway to motorists needing a parking space.
Ruth Lewis, 41, from the Bonnington area of Edinburgh, was looking for ways to earn some extra cash.
The nutritional and massage therapist realised her driveway, which she never used, was a potential source of revenue.
Ruth and husband Ross saw people using the website, Your Parking Space, and decided to add their drive for rent.
She told Edinburgh Live : “It was really straightforward. They do everything and when someone books, you get a message with their details.”
The couple charged a £5 a day at first, wanting to offer an affordable price to visitors, then increased the charge to £9 after seeing the price of other spaces in the area.
Ruth said the website also adds a fee.
They have been renting out the driveway since 2018.
Last year Ruth banked a £1,500 from renting out the space, and the pair jetted off to Malaga earlier this year.
Ruth said they had only run into two issues with the scheme over the years.
She said: “Someone got the address wrong, they got confused and parked in someone else’s driveway. We didn’t know them and when they got home, they found someone else’s car in their driveway. They phoned the police!
“The police, through talking to all the neighbours, they found out we rent our driveway and turned up at our door. Luckily the owner of the car wasn’t too far away.”
Ruth said the “vast majority” of space users are visiting Edinburgh for “a few days”.
She added: “They might be staying in an AirBnB that doesn’t have parking, or seeing family. And they book for a whole week or a weekend.”
Simply Paving analysed the price of private parking spaces on Parkopedia across 50 locations in the UK. Edinburgh is the seventh most profitable location in the UK, with only London boroughs having a higher average price per hour.
