A South London resident says they are at their “wits’ end” after “up to 15 cars from a garage” are regularly parked along their residential street – with some being there so long “weeds grow out of them”.
One Erith resident living in Pembroke Road, Bexley – who wishes to remain anonymous – said people on their road are getting “frustrated” with the parking situation caused by customers visiting the local garage.
The local, who has lived on the road for over 25 years, told the Local Democrary Reporting Service that there are cars “continuously parked out on the street”.
The local said that sometimes as many as 15 cars, are parked on the street outside, meaning residents are not able to find a space.
They added it’s an “eyesore” to the area.
The local added: “[The cars are parked] on the grass area, which was creating major problems for mud. People were slipping on the pavement.”
Councillor Nicola Taylor, Labour councillor for the Erith ward, said the cars haven’t helped with antisocial behaviour in the area.
She said: “We’ve had cars here that have had weeds growing out of them, and ones with smashed-in windscreens.
“At one point we had antisocial behaviour issues here and one of the cars was unlocked.
"So what was happening was people who were drinking would then go into the car and sit in the car.
"It wasn’t their car, and they smashed the windscreen.”
Cllr Taylor said there had been problems in the area since she was elected in 2018.
She said: “The issue is the amount of cars that are parked in dangerous places… There are times that I’ve come down and there’s been cars parked all the way along [the road]. I sent traffic enforcement down.”
The councillor claimed the street has not been cleaned “effectively” because of the long period of time cars are been parked on the road.
She said: “[The] cars have been there for so long, sweepers haven’t been able to get down. You can see it, otherwise they would have come and swept along here.”
Ahmad Jawid, owner of Blackhorse Motors on Pembroke Road, said that customers often park on the street outside while waiting to be serviced.
He also said that many of the parked cars have no links to the garage at all, and that he does not tell customers to park on the road.
He said: “I don’t go and tell the customer where to park. They can park anywhere, it’s their own responsibility. If they get a ticket that’s their problem, not mine.”
Mr Jawid claims that locals have damaged his cars while they were parked outside. He said: “They scratched my car, they broke my glass. I don’t say anything and say it’s fine.
"I’m not one of those people to argue.”
The owner said: “Life is too short. I always say to these neighbours, we try to be nice to each other, we are neighbours. We live in the area together.
"So why not be nice to each other than be rude and cause problems and aggravation?”
Mr Jawid agreed to a request from Cllr Taylor to put cards in the windscreen of cars parked on Pembroke Road that belong to his customers, to let residents know which cars are associated with Blackhorse Motors.
Bexley Council was contacted for comment.
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