Teh One Who Knocks
12-03-2016, 01:11 PM
By Wojciech Zdrojkowski - The Mirror
http://i.imgur.com/EbrdTNj.jpg
A family have left unable to use their own driveway - because a selfish motorist parked outside their house and never returned.
The inconsiderate driver left their car in the Croydon road three days ago and there is no sign of them returning to collect it, despite them being issued a ticket.
And the a black Dacia Sandero cannot be towed - because the local council no longer has a truck.
Jamie Wilkinson, 42, was initially able to squeeze his car out of his driveway after asking a neighbour to move their vehicle to free up room.
But it was so difficult to get out that he won't risk trying to get back in and is furious that there is nothing the council can do about the apparently abandoned car.
He said: "One of the neighbours saw it before us on Tuesday afternoon and thought it was a friend of ours coming to visit because sometimes they would park across our driveway.
"My wife wanted to go to a gym class that night and said 'there's a car blocking us in'.
"The council have put a ticket on it but they've said they don't have the powers to remove vehicles any more because they no longer have the truck to do it."
Croydon Council stopped towing vehicles in October last year and shut down its pound because the service had been losing money for six years.
By January this year the council had already received 200 calls from residents reporting that their driveways were blocked, the Croydon Advertiser reported .
Mr Wilkinson managed to get his car out of the drive after finding the owner of a second vehicle that was blocking part of it and asking them to move.
But the Sandero remains in the way, meaning the family effectively cannot use their drive.
"I just about managed it because I'm an incredibly skilful driver", Mr Wilkinson laughed.
"Luckily [my wife] has only got a Honda Jazz as well. If it was a bigger car I would have had no chance.
"I don't think we can get back in the driveway now we're out. It was very tricky to get out, it was like that Austin Powers scene where he's trying to do the three-point turn."
http://i.imgur.com/u9ln3k1.jpg
He added: "Now we're out I think we have to stay out.
"We've got to do school runs, my wife works. We can't risk being trapped again.
"It could be months before anything happens. What do I do in the meantime? My wife now has to park in the road so why did I pay for the driveway? The council shouldn't charge people for the dropped kerb if they can't do anything about it."
If the owner doesn't come back to retrieve the car, Mr Wilkinson plans to move it himself.
He said: "I'm going to have to contact some friends and see if they know someone who I can pay privately to take it away, because I have to have access to my driveway. I can't not ever use my driveway again."
Mr Wilkinson also tried contacting the police in a bid to get the Sandero moved.
He said: "I contacted the police and they've pretty much said this isn't a police matter. They can only tow a vehicle if it's causing an obstruction and apparently being in front of my driveway does not count as causing an obstruction.
"That's why I paid for the driveway, to avoid parking on the road and now some idiot has decided to park across it and abandon the vehicle for some reason."
Since closing its pound, Croydon Council deals with dangerously or illegally parked cars by sending a traffic warden to ticket the car.
The council said most cars complained about were not to have been parked illegally.
http://i.imgur.com/EbrdTNj.jpg
A family have left unable to use their own driveway - because a selfish motorist parked outside their house and never returned.
The inconsiderate driver left their car in the Croydon road three days ago and there is no sign of them returning to collect it, despite them being issued a ticket.
And the a black Dacia Sandero cannot be towed - because the local council no longer has a truck.
Jamie Wilkinson, 42, was initially able to squeeze his car out of his driveway after asking a neighbour to move their vehicle to free up room.
But it was so difficult to get out that he won't risk trying to get back in and is furious that there is nothing the council can do about the apparently abandoned car.
He said: "One of the neighbours saw it before us on Tuesday afternoon and thought it was a friend of ours coming to visit because sometimes they would park across our driveway.
"My wife wanted to go to a gym class that night and said 'there's a car blocking us in'.
"The council have put a ticket on it but they've said they don't have the powers to remove vehicles any more because they no longer have the truck to do it."
Croydon Council stopped towing vehicles in October last year and shut down its pound because the service had been losing money for six years.
By January this year the council had already received 200 calls from residents reporting that their driveways were blocked, the Croydon Advertiser reported .
Mr Wilkinson managed to get his car out of the drive after finding the owner of a second vehicle that was blocking part of it and asking them to move.
But the Sandero remains in the way, meaning the family effectively cannot use their drive.
"I just about managed it because I'm an incredibly skilful driver", Mr Wilkinson laughed.
"Luckily [my wife] has only got a Honda Jazz as well. If it was a bigger car I would have had no chance.
"I don't think we can get back in the driveway now we're out. It was very tricky to get out, it was like that Austin Powers scene where he's trying to do the three-point turn."
http://i.imgur.com/u9ln3k1.jpg
He added: "Now we're out I think we have to stay out.
"We've got to do school runs, my wife works. We can't risk being trapped again.
"It could be months before anything happens. What do I do in the meantime? My wife now has to park in the road so why did I pay for the driveway? The council shouldn't charge people for the dropped kerb if they can't do anything about it."
If the owner doesn't come back to retrieve the car, Mr Wilkinson plans to move it himself.
He said: "I'm going to have to contact some friends and see if they know someone who I can pay privately to take it away, because I have to have access to my driveway. I can't not ever use my driveway again."
Mr Wilkinson also tried contacting the police in a bid to get the Sandero moved.
He said: "I contacted the police and they've pretty much said this isn't a police matter. They can only tow a vehicle if it's causing an obstruction and apparently being in front of my driveway does not count as causing an obstruction.
"That's why I paid for the driveway, to avoid parking on the road and now some idiot has decided to park across it and abandon the vehicle for some reason."
Since closing its pound, Croydon Council deals with dangerously or illegally parked cars by sending a traffic warden to ticket the car.
The council said most cars complained about were not to have been parked illegally.