London residents slapped with fines for parking on their own front drives

Motorists in south-west London say that they were being handed hefty £110 fines every day for parking on their own front drives.

Homeowners in Surbiton claim that the tickets began appearing on cars last weekend and continued into this week – despite their cars being parked in their own front gardens.

But local council officials now say the motorists were at liberty to prove that they are not parked illegally, but have confirmed that they will refund the hefty fines.

Sue Cunningham, 56, plans to contest the three tickets that she has received.

‘I feel like I’m being harassed, she said.

‘I’m parking on my driveway and I’ve had three tickets since Friday. When I got the ticket I was suffering from this virus and I was very unwell.

‘My neighbours witnessed the parking attendant putting tickets on cars and called the police because they were so angry, but police told them they would have to contact the council.’

Kingston Council initially claimed that the residents had been parked illegally over grass verges, but they have since backtracked and say they will cancel the fines.

Resident David Gilbert, 40, was also stung by the fines – and found a total of three tickets on his black Audi, which he has owned for 14 years.

‘When you try and talk to someone at the council they tell you to talk to parking services but they just tell you that you have been photographed parking illegally and you will have to contest it like everyone else does’, he said.

‘I’m essentially being fined £110 a day for parking on my own driveway.’

Confirming the cancellation of the fines, a Kingston Council spokesperson said: ‘A crossing over the verge (a crossover), even where constructed, construes no form of ownership. The cars pictured in St Leonard’s Road are parked on the highway, not a driveway.

‘Because the council has not enforced the restrictions that apply to parking on the highway for some time, it will cancel penalty notices issued to cars parked on constructed crossovers in favour of starting a conversation with residents about how to manage parking tensions in the area.

‘The council started enforcing parking restrictions in St Leonard’s Road following complaints from residents about cars parked on the grass verges.’