A late-night parking ticket blitz in Auckland has reignited debate about when it's okay to park over the kerb.

$40 fines were slapped on cars parked on two narrow streets in Orakei this week.

Auckland Transport said it was enforcing the law when it fined the 27 motorists for parking overnight with part of their vehicle over the footpath.

But Ratepayers' Alliance spokeswoman Carmel Claridge said where roads are narrow, drivers shouldn't be punished for leaving room for emergency vehicles to get past.

"If it is clear that they're doing it to facilitate movement of traffic along the street, you might think it's sensible just to leave the situation alone."

She said traffic wardens should have used their discretion.

"Whenever there's overzealous enforcement of rules in a blanket fashion, you're going to get problems like this arising."

Auckland Transport said it's had complaints about cars obstructing the footpath, and the road isn't considered narrow, despite claims by fine victims that leaving all of their car on the street would obstruct emergency vehicles, rubbish trucks and large vans.

People were ticketed for illegally obstructing the footpath and parking facing the wrong direction.

Different councils take different approaches to enforcing the law.