Fury as locals in Welsh town threatened with prison after plot to save spaces

A UK council has ramped up the stakes in a parking war with residents by threatening people who put out cones to reserve spaces with prison.

Ceredigion council wrote to residents at Maes yr Afon in Aberystwyth, Wales, informing them they could be jailed if they continued to place obstructions on the street.

Resourceful locals had clubbed together to buy the traffic cones to stop drivers parking on their street which is near the town centre.

Maes yr Afon is close to a pay and display car park but people living in the area say penny-pinching drivers will often park on residential roads instead, forcing locals to take action.

Locals said they had hoped the council would introduce a residential permit scheme, but were instead stunned when they received a letter from the authority threatening them with jail.

According to WalesOnline, the letter from the corporate director for highways Rhodri Llwyd reads: “It has been noted that some residents of Maes yr Afon have been placing traffic cones and/or other objects on the highway to reserve parking spaces for their own private vehicles. We write to remind you these objects may constitute an unnecessary obstruction of the highway.

“If a person without lawful authority or excuse in any way obstructs the free passage along a highway (they are) guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks or a fine, or both.”

Councillor Mair Benjamin said she couldn’t believe it when she received a letter along with the other 14 homes on the street.

Ms Benjamin, 79, who suffers with ill health including a heart condition and a bad back, said: “I’ve told my neighbours: ‘If they want to throw a 79-year-old woman into prison over all of this and they want to free up spaces which should be for real prisoners for me then carry on.’

“We have previously felt like we were getting residential parking but that has never happened. I am currently very restricted and I use a walking frame which I keep in the boot. I need that parking space.

“There are residents here who are elderly and they require a spot close to their homes. So we started purchasing the cones and putting them out earlier this year. You would get the odd person, not very polite, who would move the bollards and park their car.

“One of these people must have called the county council. Then all of us have received letters. Of course in the following days I had lots of people knocking on my door in disbelief.”

Cllr Benjamin said it isn’t only her street which has the issue, but many streets in and around Aberystwyth town centre.

She added: “We’re now getting to a point where the population of my ward is getting older and the people living on the streets are getting older and we need to be able to park near our homes.

“The money that would come in for the council for parking permits would be lucrative. No-one is asking for parking permits for free.”

A Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “Whilst Ceredigion County Council does not comment on individual cases, placing items without permission on the public highway thereby causing an obstruction is an offence under Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980.”