Penny-pinching drivers are '˜clogging up town's streets'

Last week residents in Bewbush reported problems with parked cars in the neighbourhood - and now residents in Southgate say that they are also affected.

Jennifer Harris, who lives in Southgate Drive, says that the road has become like ‘one large car park’. And, she says, Northgate and Three Bridges have similar problems.

Sometimes, she says, cars are left in Southgate Drive for months at a time, leaving residents with nowhere to park.

She says the problems are being caused by holidaymakers leaving their cars there while jetting off to Gatwick, and also by shoppers who don’t want to pay parking charges.

“We’ve had problems for the last five years,” said Jennifer. “I’ve seen people park up, get out their cases and get a taxi to the airport. It happens regularly. It’s like the cars are abandoned - sometimes for up to three months.”

But, she said, holidaymakers were not the only culprits. She said Southgate Drive was close to Crawley town centre, as well as the railway station and airport.

“It’s a nightmare,” she said. “I’ve got an elderly mother and I sometimes have to drop her off at home then park streets away.

“It’s got to the point now where we all jump into our neighbours’ spots,” she added.

She now wants Crawley Borough Council - which she thinks must be missing out on parking revenue - to issue residents’ parking permits.

A spokesman for Crawley Borough Council said: “We urge airport passengers to travel to and from Gatwick by public transport.

“If you are driving please be considerate to residents in the town’s neighbourhoods and park in official Gatwick Airport car parks.”