NEIGHBOURS are feeling just fine after claiming victory in a battle over parking fines.
The drivers in Colham Avenue, Yiewsley, woke up on a cold Tuesday morning at the end of March to find 15 cars had been ticketed.
The penalties were issued because the street had been placed under a temporary parking restriction order so Hillingdon Council contractors could gain access to prune a line of trees.
Colham Avenue is divided down the middle by a strip of grass with trees, creating four lines of nose-to-tail parking in parts.
The unlucky motorists claimed they had been told to move their cars before the workmen turned up but were then ticketed some three hours before the appointed time.
To add to their anger, only one side of the street was ticketed, despite the restrictions applying to the whole road.
Carol Hermaluk, who lives in Colham Avenue, said: “My son, Stuart, went out in the morning to find he had got a ticket for £110.
“But my husband was parked behind him at the same time and he didn’t get one.
“It was the same all the way down our side of the road; a couple [of vehicles] would have a ticket then there would be one that didn’t. They did about 20 in total.
“To rub it in, when the van turned up to do the work it didn’t even park on our side of the street.
“Surprisingly, it parked where the trees are.”
Yiewsley ward councillor Dominic Gilham (Con) took up the neighbours’ cause, and on Thursday last week the council said nobody would have to pay the fines.
Mrs Hermaluk said: “It was such a relief and we feel like a weight has been lifted off of us.
“It just shows what happens when people pull together to fight back against something that we knew was wrong.
“Delighted and relieved just about sums it up.”
n Your views welcome as always. on this and other parking matters. Email carl.gavaghan@trinitymirror.com
