Parking officials have agreed to a compromise after angry residents challenged them over dozens of new sign posts which began appearing on their streets.
People living in the Ravenscourt Park and Starch Green conservation area were incensed when Hammersmith and Fulham Council began installing three-metre posts in front of their homes at the start of July, launching an internet campaign to have the project stopped.
The authority has now agreed to stop planting the posts if residents agree to have signs fixed to their walls instead.
And it has admitted a gaffe which saw council workers marking the sites for the poles with spray paint one day, only to remove the 'tags' the next in the mistaken belief that they had been sprayed by a graffiti artist.
The NSP marks – standing for 'new sign post' – were reported by residents as the work of vandals before the posts began being installed.
Poles which were due to be introduced in controlled parking zones I, L and M can now be replaced with signs on walls or fences, as long as they are around one metre from the ground.
Rylett Crescent resident Clare Burnett, 45, who led the campaign against the council's 'forest of poles', said: "Whilst this is obviously not a perfect solution it will look much better than having so many posts and is the best that the council are able to do with the current Department of Transport regulations.
"We appreciate the fact that a compromise has been reached and especially thank the councillors in the Ravenscourt Park Ward and council leader Stephen Greenhalgh for putting the scheme on hold while it was reconsidered."
Admitting there had been a communication breakdown between workers in the authority's parking and graffiti departments, a spokesman said: "The council's graffiti action team is so fast that almost all tags, official or unofficial, are removed within 48 hours of residents calling in.
"In fact only by listening to and working with local residents have we reached a compromise which will do away with the need for more parking poles in return for home-owners agreeing to place parking signs on walls or fences.
"The only condition is that all the locations need to adhere to the various national rules that govern parking law because taxpayers cannot afford to get hit in the pocket if we get challenged in the courts."
