A SURGE in complaints about unauthorised parking on housing estates has prompted the council to take action.

But it will only focus on the worst affected areas, and on an ‘ad hoc’ basis after it has consulted with people who live there.

Estates could get bollards or bushes to stop people parking in troublesome areas, but it will be down to individual enforcement officers to decide.

But Jacqueline Carter, of Colson Road in Debden, said addressing the problem in just a handful of areas would not solve the matter.

She added: “I can never get near my house. If I go out in the morning I won’t get a space for the rest of the day. It’s a big problem.

“But the danger is, if you use enforcement in some roads, the others don’t stand a chance.

“It needs to be done everywhere or it will just move the problem into another road.”

Epping Forest District Council officer Rodger Wilson said the Debden Estate was the worst affected. He added: “It’s the most congested with people parking on the grass verges.

“We have problems all across the Debden Estate, even one or two miles away from the tube station.

“But if you take enforcement action, residents nearby will have nowhere to park as it will only move the problem.

“And if we use enforcement where people are parking on grass verges, then they might go and use side streets and people living there would complain about that. It’s a dilemma.”

In roads opposite Debden tube station, residents have taken the law into their own hands by using wheelie bins and cones to prevent cars parking outside their homes.

Marion Simpson, 57 from Ladyfields, said: “People will park by our dropped kerb so we use cones to stop them. If I see people doing it I will come out and say something. But people run over them and park there anyway so we can’t use our drive. It’s awful.”

But Terry Walsom, 72, from Colson Road, said the residents’ own blockades were an eyesore.

He added: “It’s not very nice to see dustbins all along the street.

“What I would like to see is police making sure the cars are parked legally and not on the verges.

“Why should someone have to go out into the road to push a pram?”

Leslie Tizer, 69, from Colson Road, told the Guardian: “I think someone from the council should get off their backside and come round and see what’s going on. Permits would be a good idea or no parking between certain hours.”