'˜People can park outside our houses for free and we're having to pay for it'

People living in River Mead, Horsham, pay £40 a year to Horsham District Council for resident parking permits, but they say that other drivers are parking in the road without having to pay a penny.

They say that the drivers are getting away scot-free with leaving their cars in the road because no traffic wardens are operating there.

One man - Gatwick vending machine serviceman Stephen Dickens - said: “One car has been parked in a bay for six weeks and has never been ticketed.”

He said he had contacted the council who told him that parking services had been suspended because of the poor quality of double yellow lines in River Mead.

Mr Dickens, 61, added: “We’re paying for permits which is a waste of money. People are parking there, willy nilly.” And he queried: “How many other areas are experiencing the same thing?

“Residents are not happy that people can park outside our houses for free, and we’re having to pay for it.”

A spokeswoman for Horsham Council said: “Horsham District Council Parking Services have inspected the area in River Mead and, due to the faded and broken double yellow lines, concluded that the area is currently unenforceable.

“The instance has been reported to the Highways department of West Sussex County Council and the Parking Services team are waiting confirmation that re-lining work can be carried out within this enforcement zone.”

She said that residents could still use their permits to park in other parts of ‘Zone F’, the area in which River Mead is sited.