Fined... because our drives are too short!
THE joy of a driveway is that it’s somewhere you can park without worrying about getting a ticket.
But that’s not the case on this suburban street.
Residents are being fined for parking on their own drives because their cars stick out just a few inches on to the pavement – with some receiving several tickets a day.
They say the drives were built in the 1940s and aren’t long enough for newer cars. The frustrated locals – many of whom have lived on the street in Gants Hill in Redbridge, north-east London, for up to 40 years – suspect there’s a new over-zealous parking officer patrolling the area.
Irshad Nabee, the area’s Neighbourhood Association chairman, said: ‘It’s just stupid. Common sense should dictate that these tickets should not be given out. It seems like one new enforcement officer has decided to just walk up and down.’
Tory Redbridge councillor Karen Packer said it was ‘appalling’, adding: ‘These residents have lived in this road for 20, 30, 40 years, and there’s never been a problem. But now some are getting two or three tickets a day, just for having a few inches of their car hanging over the boundary of their drive.
‘Yes I can see it is technically breaking the regulations, but why now? Surely common sense says this should be looked at because these drives are very short.’
She suggested a residents-only permit scheme could be set up or all ticketing suspended until a long-term solution is found.
The Labour-run council’s leader, Jas Athwal, admitted it looked as though a mistake had been made. Mr Athwal, who has paid four parking fines himself while in office, insisted over-zealous wardens will be re-trained if necessary.
Last September, residents in Surbiton, south-west London, were fined for parking on their own driveways because yellow lines had been painted in front of their homes, which they had to cross to park. Kingston Council eventually cancelled the tickets.