With hikes in the price of parking outside stations, commuters are looking to home owners offering their drives as an alternative.

People with a spare parking space can advertise on dedicated websites, some of which say they could make up to £300 a month by offering parking for a few hours, a day, or longer.

Victoria Barnett hires out her drive off Lindsey Street in Epping for £4 a day to someone who lives and works in central London and wants to avoid the congestion charge.

She said: “I first started doing it for the Olympics, when I recognised there was demand.

“I have a drive, but I don’t have a car and I commute into and out of the centre of London on the Tube, so I thought it was an opportunity.

“I got fully booked up for the Olympics and on odd days here and there during the Paralympics and now I’m fortunate enough to have someone who rents it long-term.”

The website she used, parkatmyhouse.co.uk, allows home owners and drivers to send each other messages, but she said she had never met the owner of the car.

She added: “We’ve spoken on the phone and they keep saying ‘I’ll knock and say hello next time,’ but our paths haven’t crossed.”

She said she thought the idea could grow as a way of easing parking problems in the town.

“I didn’t do it for altruistic motives; I’ve done it because I had the space and it was an opportunity to make money,” she added.

“But I think if people were made aware of the opportunity it could grow – It’s not intrusive.”

Epping Forest District Council’s highways portfolio holder Gary Waller, who has been trying to tackle the problems caused by commuters parking in Epping town centre, said: “If people just decide to park in a driveway rather than in the station car park, it wouldn’t help.

“It would only help if people were going to park in driveways rather than the town centre.”