Pay £1k to use your own drive, council demands

A HOMEOWNER has been threatened with legal action by her local council – for parking on her own driveway.

Helen Maloney is one of several residents of Southport, Merseyside, who have been warned they face bills of up to £1,000 for driving on and off their properties.

Miss Maloney – who has lived in her home for 12 years and always used the drive – has been told this is because of a littleknown rule which requires a sloping dropped kerb outside her house to avoid the pavement being damaged by vehicles. She said yesterday: ‘The letter said I can’t park on my own driveway because I don’t have a dropped kerb.

‘Apparently, by driving over the pavement in front of my house to get on to my drive, I am breaking the Highways Act. My nextdoor neighbour has a dipped kerb so she didn’t get [a letter], but others in my street did.’ The letter warns recipients they must ‘construct a crossing’ if they want to continue parking on their drives – despite the kerb over which Miss Maloney regularly drives being so low it is barely noticeable.

Failure to comply could result in the council carrying out the work itself and recovering the full cost of around £1,000 from homeowners. The row prompted a mixed reaction from residents on social media. ‘The council should have already put a drop kerb in place for free with her having a driveway. Disgusting how they try and fleece you,’ wrote Janine Dillon.

But Keith Driscoll said: ‘She’s been breaking the law for 12 years … fix it like the rest of us who paid for dropped kerbs.’

A spokesman for Sefton Council said: ‘Driving over pavements can lead to the damage of a footway, creating uneven surfaces which can also lead to trip hazards.’