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Parked cars preventing yellow lines in Ellerslie, Gravesend.

A man is fed up after a three-year battle to get parking restrictions introduced in a nearby road.

Iqbal Bains, 56, moved to Sycamore Close, Gravesend, 22 years ago, but over the years has seen parking in the area grow worse.

He complained to Gravesham council in 2014 that drivers trying to get out of nearby Ellerslie onto Milton Road were struggling with blind spots created by the number of vehicles parked there.

Avninder Singh (resident), Councillor Gurdip Bungar, Iqbal Bains (resident) & James MacDonald (resident) at the corner of Copper Beech Close & Ellerslie, Gravesend.
Avninder Singh (resident), Councillor Gurdip Bungar, Iqbal Bains (resident) & James MacDonald (resident) at the corner of Copper Beech Close & Ellerslie, Gravesend.

The matter was passed to Kent County Council (KCC), which is responsible for highways.

It had agreed to paint double yellow lines in Ellerslie and extend a bus stop in Milton Road by April this year.

But that has not happened.

KCC said it had tried to carry out the work agreed at the start of 2017 but has been unable to – due to parked cars.

Mr Bains, who owns a hair salon, said: “It’s got worse. When you go in or out, cars are parked on the corner of Milton Road and Ellerslie, up to the bus stop opposite G&M Motors.

“The people who park there now aren’t even residents.

They park here and walk to the train station and go to London.”

The road is close to Gravesend Grammar School.

Mr Bains said: “Coaches used to go into Ellerslie, drop the kids off, and then go. They can’t do that anymore.

“You can’t stop parents dropping and picking kids up or coaches doing the same.

“My problem is that they can no longer stop in Ellerslie because of people leaving their cars from seven in the morning to seven in the evening.

“Why should we wait for a serious accident?

“I don’t want an accident to happen but it will happen eventually.”

A KCC Highways spokesman said: “It was agreed earlier this year that KCC would install double yellow lines as corner protection.

“However, despite multiple visits to the site, we have not been able to put the lines down due to parked vehicles.

“We will aim to progress this scheme again in January 2018 and apologise for the delay.”

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