'It's hard to make a positive difference when there's so much rubbish'

COUNTY ROAD BUSINESSES SAY THEIR STREET IS BEING NEGLECTED WITH ILLEGAL PARKING AND FLY-TIPPING BECOMING SERIOUS ISSUES

- By JONATHAN BLACKBURN

A LACK of parking around Walton's County Road has led to dozens of cars being parked illegally along the length of the busy route.

County Road has double-yellow lines along its full length - but drivers are flouting restrictions, even parking in bus stops and causing people relying on public transit to miss rides into town.

When the ECHO visited, dozens of cars were parked illegally along the length of County Road.

None had been slapped with parking tickets, and local business owners expressed frustration over what they saw as a lack of parking enforcement and cleansing in the area.

Emil Rahaeanu, 36, owns Emil's Kitchen on Country Road, Walton. He said there are cars parked on double-yellows and on the pavement outside his small cafe "all the time".

"They [customers of nearby businesses] come here and leave their cars for hours.

"I pay the council for a parking space and it's always full.

"It makes things difficult because people passing can't always see the front of the shop, and we don't have a space where customers can park to pick up deliveries.

"There's nothing we can do about it," said Emil of drivers parking illegally on County Road. "The council don't take it seriously."

Emil said the issue had worsened since parking restrictions were extended in July, saying he hadn't "seen a traffic warden for months" on County Road. Previously, drivers could park for free in the city centre after 6pm - but must now pay to park until 11pm.

Emil also complained that illegal parking means the road sweeping vehicle cannot clean pavements effectively.

"It used to come down here three times a week. Now, if you see it once then it's a good week. It's difficult to make a positive difference when there's so much rubbish around."