A FRESH row has erupted about the conduct of traffic wardens operating near one of the area's busiest shopping districts after residents claimed that they were ignoring people parked illegally in certain roads.

Residents in a number of streets near the southern end of George Lane in South Woodford say that drivers attending services at the mosque in Mulberry Way and customers using the car wash in Daisy Road are parking on yellow lines and not being given tickets.

In June a number of people living in and around South Woodford claimed that the wardens who operated there were “over-zealous” in issuing fines relative to other areas – a claim the council refuted.

David Watson, 72, of Violet Road, said: “The council said that traffic wardens don't take a different approach in George Lane to other areas, but they do.

“The thing is they're letting people park on the yellow lines and they're not giving them tickets.

“At certain times of the day there are people visiting the mosque and people driving to the car wash place nearby, and in both cases people park on the yellow lines and they never get a ticket.

“The road is a bus route and it's tight enough to get through there anyway, so how Transport for London haven't complained I don't know.”

Abbie Wright, 34, of Mulberry Way, said: “When the mosque applied for permission to extend earlier in the year one of the local residents around here put together a big dossier of photos to show the council how many cars are parked on our roads.

“I don't know if it's just people coming to the mosque but it's at its worst on a Friday. You can see whole rows of cars which don't have tickets, and they should have.

“I think if the council opened up a bit more space for parking, and made them a bit more inviting, then that would make thing easier. I think there's an old car park under the viaduct which could be opened up, something like that.”

Neighbour Chung Kwok, 54, said: “We've got three cars in our household and we have to park one on the road, but sometimes we can't even park anywhere near.

“We pay all this money for a permit and sometimes we have to park miles away.”

A Redbridge Council spokeswoman said: “The council's parking enforcement contractor operates throughout the Borough, with both random and planned visits to all areas subject to parking controls.

“The rules apply to all vehicles, with a few exceptions such as emergency service vehicles when actively involved in an incident.

“The civil enforcement officers will issue penalty charge notices to any vehicle found parking in contravention of the local restrictions.”