ANGRY residents have accused the council of double standards after they received parking tickets in an unadopted street.

People living around Middlefield Gardens, Gants Hill, have been slapped with fines for pulling up alongside grass verges, even though the area does not belong to Redbridge Council.

Residents say they are forced to park by the verges as commuters using the station and workmen visiting the building site at the old Odeon cinema in Perth Road, quickly fill up parking spots in the street.

Grayham Farrell, 48, has lived in the area for ten years and used to pick up rubbish and cut the grass on the verges himself before it started to take its toll on his back.

He said: "The council haven't adopted the road and they use it as a loop-hole to avoid street cleaning and maintenance work, despite us all paying £2,000-a-year Council Tax.

"But now they are trying to have their cake and eat it, using double standards to ticket us.

"It's filthy and covered in pot holes and many of my neighbours have written to complain about it.

"They say the verges are a public footpath, but the one I park along is three foot high and full of nettles. Not even a blind man would walk through there.

"We have parked along the verges for years and we've received no notification that they are now out of bounds.

"Parking's a nightmare in the street as it is, and if they take this spot away they're going to make a bad situation even worse.

"All they're interested in is ringing extra money out of us, and if they don't uphold my appeal I'm prepared to take it to court."

A spokeswoman for the council said: "Every effort is made to manage parking enforcement in the Borough on a fair and consistent basis and any vehicle found committing a contravention will be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice (PCN).

"If the person wishes to make an appeal against the PCN they can do so by following the instructions contained on the back of the penalty notice, this will ensure the PCN is placed on hold while the appeals team investigate.

"If this is left until after the 28 day period the charge will increase and will prolong the process.

"If it is found that the PCN has been issued incorrectly then arrangements will be made for the PCN to be cancelled."