A GROUP of homeowners have been left fuming over “ridiculous” new parking spaces, claiming they are only big enough for a toddler’s bike.
The bays in Borough Green, Kent, have come under fire after being repainted last week.
SWNSResidents of Borough Green, Kent, have been left fuming over ‘ridiculous’ narrow parking bays[/caption]
SWNSLocals Christopher and Mary Scotty slammed the spaces as a ‘waste of time and money’[/caption]
The lines only allow a space about half the width of a normal car, with locals slamming them as a “waste of money“.
Christopher Scotty, who has lived next to one of the bays for seven years, told Kent Online: “It’s quite ridiculous.
“I don’t know what they think the size of a car is. It was a waste of time and money.
“If they did come back and redo them, they’ll probably do it wrong again anyway.”
His wife Mary added that residents were given no warning of the repainting and simply woke up one day to find the bay’s effectively slashed in half.
They were previously the same size but went largely unnoticed until the lines were touched up because they were so faded.
Mary was completely bewildered that the unusual error wasn’t corrected when the bays were redone.
She said: “You could fit a toddler’s bike on it, that’s about it.
“The cars are still parking as normal.”
Fellow resident Kitty Peploe claimed that the issue came from when the local council widened the pavement to improve pedestrian safety.
However, she says that they failed to widen the parking spaces to match, resulting in the crunch.
She fumed: “It didn’t really matter as much because the lines were quite faded, but now they have come back and gone over the original lines which makes it look a bit ridiculous.
“I can only assume the person that they hired was just told to go over the original lines and that is exactly what they did.
“Obviously they didn’t pay attention to the fact that the lines need updating.”
Likewise, Kaine Sharp branded the error “hilarious” but did feel hacked off that he couldn’t park his van outside his home because of the risk of it being scratched.
Others took to the area’s Facebook page to comment on the spaces, with one joking that they might be for “Noddy cars”.
Another quipped: “You’ve got to park your car on its side to fit within the lines.”
A spokesperson for Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council thanked the report for bringing the issue to their attention.
They added: “We’ve been to the road and inspected the repainting of parking bay lines carried out on our behalf by a contractor and clearly a mistake has been made.
“It appears that old white lines, which were in place prior to a widening of the pavement, have been gone over instead of the newer wider ones.”
The spokesperson pledged to fix the issue as soon as possible and said that the council would not issue any parking fines until the work was completed.
It comes after residents of a picturesque seaside town claimed it was being ruined by “selfish” tourists clogging up their roads.
Meanwhile, a Tesla owner was left in shock after they returned from holiday to find that an airport car park worker had crashed their £40,000 EV into a pond.
SWNSKaine Sharp branded the ordeal ‘hilarious’[/caption]
SWNSThe bays were squeezed when the council widened the pavement several years ago[/caption]
SWNSThe old markings were ignored as they had faded, but council contractors have now come and repainted them[/caption]