BUSINESSMEN who say their parking has been snatched away without warning have accused the council of ignoring the needs of traders.

Staff at Tish, Press and Co accountants and Wiseman Lee solicitors in Cambridge Park, Wanstead, arrived at work yesterday (Tuesday) to find Spratt Hall Road, Addison Road and Dangan Road, where they usually leave their cars, reserved for drivers living there.

Raymond Tish, 59, a partner of Tish, Press and Co, said: “We arrived and there were signs saying ‘residents’ parking only’.

“My staff are walking for miles just to get parked somewhere. One walked to Grosvenor Road (off Wanstead High Street).

“We don’t mind paying for permits, but the council is saying it doesn’t want business people to use the roads for parking.”

He added that the firm had one parking space reserved for clients, but eight or nine usually visited its offices a day.

“It makes people want to move away from us,” he added. “These roads were the logical place for people to park to come and see us and there were always spaces.

“I think Redbridge council must be trying to make people unemployed.”

David Wershof, 60, a partner at Wiseman Lee solicitors, which also has an office in Cambridge Park, said: “It was all a bit of a bombshell. We had no notification from Redbridge council.”

He added that staff, who drive in from as far as Barking and Dagenham and beyond, had been told by the council that they would only be granted a permit if they needed their cars for business travel.

“For some staff, public transport’s not an option because they’re coming from far away,” he added. “It’s also more expensive.”

He added that some employees were parking in nearby pay and display parks, but could not afford to keep doing so.

“It’s certainly going to affect our business,” he added. “We have clients coming in and out – I have 12 solicitors here and at least two or three will have a client in at some point in the day.”

The council agreed to a 12-month trial of residents-only permits in Addison Road, Dangan Road and Spratt Hall Road after pressure from families who said their streets were choked by commuter parking.

A Redbridge Council spokeswoman said: “Following residents' complaints that local workers and commuters were parking in residential areas, the council is implementing a permit parking zone on a six month trial basis. This will come into force on 16 April.

“Cambridge Park is not part of this zone. Businesses within the area of the parking scheme were consulted.

“The potential capacity for allowing business permit holders to park within the zone will be reviewed after the trial period.

“Some of the businesses in the area do have forecourt parking and there are other streets in the vicinity where parking is available to non-permit holders.

“There is also a local car park in Grove Road just off Wanstead High Street.”

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