An all-out parking war is raging on an Anerley estate after new restrictions left residents of two blocks of flats trying to share 12 parking spaces.

Vanisha Ramdhony, 31, lives in Darwin House on the Worcester Close estate and was outraged to find out earlier this year that residents from her block of flats would be banned from on-street parking.

After leaving their cars on the road overnight last month, some of them woke up to a £100 fine from Parking Control Management Ltd., who told the residents they would have to use the 12 bays owned by their housing association, Affinity Sutton.

She and her neighbours have been caught in a tug-of-war over the bays ever since, with tensions escalating as the residents of 53 properties across Darwin House and neighbouring Bodleian House, also owned by Affinity Sutton, struggle to find somewhere close by to park.

Ms Ramdhony said: “People from Bodleian House are putting up cones to stop us parking there.

“They will block you in with their own cars or stand there and tap on the window while you’re parking saying ‘you can’t park here, you can’t park here’.”

Many residents have resorted to parking further away from their homes, not an ideal situation for those with young children, Ms Ramdhony says.

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She told News Shopper: “Affinity Sutton’s slogan says ‘Helping people put down roots’.

“Does it look like in any way us residents will be able to live happily with this parking chaos hanging over our heads?

“There are 12 parking bays on the whole estate.”

She says she and her neighbours had a verbal agreement with housing association Affinity Sutton due to the lack of parking provided on the estate.

The housing association owns two of the five blocks of flats on the estate, with 53 properties across both blocks.

Councillor Angela Wilkins told News Shopper that street parking is becoming a major issue locally, partly because the overground is being heavily used by commuters.

She said: “I am working with officers to try to address this - but the overriding problem is too many cars and not enough space.

“If parking charges or residents' permit schemes are introduced the likely outcome is that the problem simply moves to neighbouring streets.”

An Affinity Sutton spokeswoman said: “There is a limited amount of parking for our residents on the estate.

“We do not own the road running through the estate and unfortunately, First Port – which manages the scheme – has had to impose parking restrictions to enable access for emergency vehicles and for refuse trucks.”

A spokeswoman for FirstPort told News Shopper that Affinity Sutton makes its own arrangements for residents not allocated a space.

She added: “Having limited parking spaces is not uncommon for a development of this size as more people own cars than there are spaces.

“We understand that many households want or need a car, and this can sometimes naturally create a degree of frustration.

“We do everything we can to provide access to designated spaces in a fair and reasoned way, whilst ensuring the highest levels of safety for our residents.”