A council has been forced to issue an embarrassing apology after resurfacing a road around parked cars.

People living on McBryde St in Fawkner, Melbourne, were sent letter with just a few days’ notice that the road was going to be resurfaced.

But not everyone got the memo in time, with contractors arriving to find some cars were still parked on the street.

Instead of holding off the work - or asking the vehicle’s owners to move out the way - the contractors ploughed on and laid new bitumen around the cars.

Patt Gibbs, who lives on the street, told 9News: “It just looks a bit stupid.”

Neighbour Monica Hodgkinson agreed.

“The street is probably in a worse state then it was to start with,” she said.

“It’s disappointing, because now the street is a mess.”

Merri-Bek City Council has admitted it was in the wrong.

 “We took the opportunity to complete these works more quickly when resources were available, which resulted in less notice being provided to residents,” a Merri-bek City Council spokesman said.

“We apologise to residents for the inconvenience.”