31 March 2023 , 08:21
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Furious residents have erected SPIKES in the ground outside their homes to halt people from parking outside their homes after cars were vandalised and windows smashed.
The group who live in Ancoats, Manchester have taken matters into the own hand in a desperate bid to halt "disgraceful" parking on the grass verges outside their homes.
They were spurred into action after United Utilities workers asked motorists to remove their cars from a grass verge in order to carry out necessary repairs to pipes.
But the scheduled work failed to start on schedule on Thursday and residents say they are concerned about potential accidents.
Local mum Jaime Lightbowne said residents fear for the safety of the public, as she said: "It’s an accident waiting to happen. I want to stop people getting hurt rather than waiting for someone to get hurt.
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"A mixture of neighbours have built the fence. Someone put some of the sticks up and others said ‘we will have a go at putting it up too’.”
Residents have taken action (MEN)Jaime, 36, added that she has seen 'no sign’ of United Utilities staff as of 2.15pm on Thursday afternoon.
The row has exploded into view in recent months, with Liberal Democrat campaigner and resident Chris Northwood saying some vehicles have been vandalised.
"It’s become a flashpoint,” she told the Manchester Evening News.
"Some have had windows smashed, and people leave cones out to stop people parking outside their house.”
Labour councillors in the area agree the situation is 'disgraceful’.
Councillors Irene Robinson and Majid Dar said in a joint statement: "Parking down Weybridge Street and the surrounding area is disgraceful and we share residents' anger on it.
"It makes it harder to drive down the street and wrecks the grass. We've been fighting for more funding to combat this and last year Majid Dar secured an expansion of the Eastlands parking scheme, so we can tackle this head on.”
The spikes have been erected along the grass verges (MEN)Jaime said that since launching the petition, council officers have promised to look at enforcement.
She added: "Nothing concrete has come from the council, only because they are waiting for feedback from the Eastlands parking scheme before putting plans forward for the Ancoats one for consultation.
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"Officers have said though that they will speak to enforcement about short-term and long-term things.”
When the petition was launched, a Manchester council spokeswoman said: "Funding has been secured by the council to develop a residents' parking scheme in Ancoats and New Islington, a project the council remains committed to.
“This project is currently in the early stages of development, with data being collected on how residents and businesses use this area. It is important that engagement takes place to ensure the type and frequency of parking issues caused by out of area vehicles can be thoroughly assessed and understood.
“When the time comes the council would encourage all residents to make their views known so that the final scheme is best suited to their needs."
They added that the council was ‘limited in regards to enforcement’ due to the lack of double yellow lines or parking bays in the area.