Harry Potter and the Illegally Parked Car: Emma Watson's £30,000 Audi A3 is towed away by police after she left it blocking access to a car park while enjoying a night out at the pub

Harry Potter star Emma Watson may have wished she had stayed on the Hogwarts Express after a night out ended with her car being seized by police.

The celebrated actress found herself in trouble after parking her £30,000 Audi A3 'illegally' while enjoying an evening in a pub across the street.

Watson, 33, apparently did not see a 'no parking' sign and did not realize she had left the vehicle outside the entrance to a car park in Stratford-upon-Avon's historic town centre.

To make matters worse, the surveillance led to an irate pizza restaurant manager's own vehicle being stuck in the gated compound for three and a half hours.

The frustrated manager – who had completed a 12-hour shift at pizzeria Red Hot Mamma – searched local restaurants in a failed attempt to locate the owner before calling police, who summoned a tow truck to remove the offending car.

Eyewitnesses told how Watson 'came flying out of the nearby Rose and Crown pub'

It was only when the blue Audi was towed onto a low loader that Watson was alerted to the real-life tragedy near William Shakespeare's birthplace.

Eyewitnesses told how she 'came flying out of the nearby Rose and Crown pub' when she realized what was happening before pleading with police not to take her car.

In photos obtained by MailOnline, the actress – who wore a black French beret and a long dark coat – is seen at the scene with a police officer present and the tow truck driver dressed in high-visibility overalls.

But it seems no amount of magic could prevent her car from being towed to the compound as her calls to be allowed to take back possession of the car fell on deaf ears.

Watson had to pay a fine of £192 to get her car released and a further £26 for each day the vehicle remained at the police station.

Watson apparently had not noticed a 'no parking' sign in Stratford-upon-Avon

Watson left the vehicle at the entrance to a city center parking lot

Watson reportedly begged police not to take her car during the incident

The angry pizza boss, who asked not to be named, told MailOnline: 'I was stuck in the car park for three and a half hours because a blue car was blocking the exit.

'Three and a half hours of searching for the driver was the last thing I needed after a twelve-hour shift.

'The car was parked in front of our gate, a parking ban. I went to every restaurant in the area and asked if anyone owned the car.

'Nobody admitted it was their car, so I had to call the police so they would move the car and I could get out.

'But when the police started to tow her car away, she came flying out of the pub shouting: 'That's my car, that's my car!'

Emma Watson is pictured opening the door of her Audi car in North London in January 2015

Emma Watson was pictured with her car in St John's Wood, north London, in December last year

An onlooker told MailOnline: 'It must have been about 11pm when I saw Emma Watson outside in the street.

'The police had seized her Audi A3 and it was loaded into a recovery vehicle. She begged them not to take her car.

“But they didn't listen and it was towed away. Apparently she had parked in front of a fence and blocked this guy for hours.

'Earlier a man had entered the pub to say that a blue Audi A3 had blocked the entrance to a car park. The police came first and then called a recovery vehicle and towed it away.”

Watson has been contacted for comment.

Watson appeared alongside Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe in all eight Harry Potter films

Warwickshire Police confirmed a report had been registered and a blue Audi had been 'taken and seized'.

It comes just weeks after Watson, who is reportedly worth £67 million, appeared to have had an accident in the same vehicle after she was spotted driving the Audi, which had noticeable damage to the front wing and had been repaired together with duct tape.

Watson became one of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses after appearing in all eight Harry Potter films.

But she made the decision to step out of the spotlight and take a break from her career after the release of her most recent film Little Women in 2019.

During that time she directed a Prada fragrance commercial and also studied for an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford.