RESIDENTS living in a road where parking has been allowed on the pavement for 40 years, are the latest to voice their anger at the council’s new ‘spy car’.

The road in Durham Avenue is so narrow that residents have parked their cars on the pavement for as long as any current householders can remember.

In previous years the council had painted white boxing on the pavement to encourage the practice and keep the road clear for emergency vehicles, dustcarts and lorries.

But at the start of this month, residents noticed the council’s new parking enforcement vehicle in the road and were quickly hit with a flurry of tickets.

Ian Philp, 63, a self-employed electrical contractor, is one of those who has received a penalty notice.

He said: “The fact of the matter is that before they started this, they had set a long, long precedent of allowing us to park on the pavement.

“No-one was consulted before they started handing out these tickets. It’s parking fascism.”

Mr Philp says that one of his neighbours who died recently received four penalty notices in the post, and says he knows of at least six others who have also been targeted.

And he added: “The ferocity with which these tickets are being issued makes me think this a cynical revenue raising exercise.”

Mr Philp’s son-in-law, Daniel Barber, 32, lives in South Woodford but regularly visits his father-in-law in Durham Avenue.

He has contacted local MPs and councillors about the matter and has already received a reply from Ilford North MP Lee Scott, saying he is happy to support calls to have the fines rescinded.

But the Council appear to be taking a hard line on any parking on the pavement.

Adrian Birch, 32, who lives in nearby Croft Lodge Close presented a petition to the council last month after residents in his road were hit with a series of fines following a visit from the spy car.

He said: “We have always parked with two wheels on the pavement, and the road is so narrow that wardens always turned a blind eye to it.

“The fact is emergency vehicles, dustcarts and large vans cannot get down the road if cars park in the road.”

But he was told by Highways Officer Cliff Woolnoth that parking on the footpath was not allowed anywhere in London, and Mr Birch says he was told the same thing in a conversation with a member of the Council’s Highways Department yesterday.

“They can say they have received complaints about people parking on the pavement, but that’s rubbish, “ he said. “The fact is this has been convention and custom for years and they are just using this new car to raise revenue.”

A spokeswoman for Redbridge Council said: "Penalty Charge Notices have been issued for vehicles parking with four wheels on the pavement and vehicles obstructing pedestrian access.

"There is a sign stating that footpath parking is allowed in certain parts of Durham Avenue but the sign clearly shows that only two wheels are permitted on the footpath.

"The new CCTV enforcement vehicle has been patrolling since November 2011."

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