Parking war that’s so bad, you can even see it from Google Earth!
MOST motorists have jostled with another driver for a parking space at one time or other.
But spare a thought for the residents of Westmorland Close in Stockport, whose battle for spots in their tiny cul-de-sac has got so bad they can even be seen from space on the Google Earth satellite mapping app.
The pictures – which enable users to get a bird’s eye view of anywhere on the planet – reveal cars double-parked and blocking the narrow street, stopping others from getting in or out.
Similar pictures on the search engine’s Street View map service show vans and cars parked alongside the road up on grass verges.
Although the close has nine houses, there is space for just four cars outside. The problem has caused rows between residents, accidents and tension as neighbours report each other to the council for bad parking. Some say they have been late for work because their cars were blocked in, while others claim they have been forced to wake up their neighbours early in the morning to get out.
Grass verges are constantly being churned up by drivers, and trees planted by the local council to stop them being used as parking spots have even been driven into and uprooted.
Mother-of-two Hayley Foster, 27, claims she once had to call a taxi to get her three-year- old daughter, Phoebe, to hospital because her car was blocked in.
Miss Foster, a carer, said: ‘There’s constant beeping of horns to get your neighbours to move. There’s constant tension, wondering who’s complained to the council about who.’
Miss Foster said parking had been an issue for many years, with residents constantly complaining to Stockport Council, but it has started to come to a head recently with some sent warning letters saying they could face prosecution if they continue to park on the verges.
Plans to get rid of the grass and put designated parking bays in place were discussed several years ago, but so far nothing has been done.
Ann-Marie Greenwood, 47, will not let her four-year-old grandson Damian play outside for fear he will get hurt. She said: ‘Trees have been planted to stop people parking on the grass but cars have just driven into them. It’s amazing there’s not been fights.’
Val Miller, 49, who has lived in the close for 30 years, added: ‘There’s just no room. It really annoys people.’
A spokesman for Stockport Council said they would be ‘looking into’ the issue.
‘It’s amazing there’s not been fights’