Driver stages 'money-wasting' Citroen C1 protest on grass verge outside her home

07 March 2024 , 09:35

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Kate Marsh's lone car parked on the green (Image: Kate Marsh)

A woman unhappy about a green near her home being dug up started a bizarre solo protest by driving her Citroen C1 on to the area.

Kate Marsh got home on Wednesday to find a digger waiting patiently to begin work in Bilborough, Nottinghamshire. Having missed an earlier consultation, she had first heard about the “improvements” to turn it into a small park the night before from a neighbour. Fuming, she mounted the kerb in her little red car and parked it in the middle of where the work was soon due to begin. When the waiting workmen asked her what she was doing, she replied: "Protesting."

She told NottinghamshireLive : "My neighbour texted me the night before to let me know what was happening. I was like: 'You are joking' When I got back from the appointment, I was like 'I'm not having this.' It doesn't need any of this. It's just a waste - especially now. We're bankrupt. They're wasting money. I don't want it. None of us want it. It's not necessary. Why now? Why? It's just made me so angry."

Residents in the area were visited by Nottingham City Council representatives a few weeks ago to tell them of the work taking place outside their homes. Details of the scheme are not available publicly, but Ms Marsh says neighbours were told "improvements" would take the form of benches, flowerbeds, trees, wood chippings and a telephone box book exchange.

Ms Marsh said: "We've got a library down the road. There's a park literally a few hundred metres away. We've got so many trees. This is going to get vandalised. I have no idea why they'd do this. Where we live there is no thoroughfare for possible pedestrians. Children who attend Samworth Academy walk past. That's it. The only people who come on here are the people who live here. "

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The green and homes on Redruth Close were reportedly built in the wake of World War II and the green has been unchanged for more than 70 years. It is popular with children in summer. Nottinghamshire County Council has been approached for comment by the Mirror.

Antony Clements-Thrower