Parking inspector bashed on Gold Coast

A man accused of beating up a parking inspector who was in the middle of issuing him a fine has been charged with assault.

A 59-year-old Gold Coast City Council employee is nursing cuts, bruises and a sore head after allegedly being punched a number of times by an irate motorist, who reacted to receiving a parking ticket at the Southport Mall.

Police say the motorist unleashed the attack on Wednesday afternoon after returning to his vehicle to find the inspector completing the $50 ticket.

"People may not like it but the fact is parking restrictions are there for a reason, and they have to be enforced, and he's there doing his job," Acting Chief Superintendent Ben Hanbidge told reporters on Thursday.

A 19-year-old man from Southport has been charged with serious assault of a public officer and is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on April 17.