Parking wars in one town have boiled over at Christmas – after vandals painted over zone signs which state who can park where.
Locals in Cheltenham., Glos, say one neighbourhood has seen 11 parking restriction signs painted over.
The vandalism has sparked fears there could be a parking free-for-all.
Black paint obscures the parts of the signs which say non-permit holders are allowed to park for a maximum of two hours.
St Paul’s Residents’ Association (SPRA) chairman Daud McDonald said: “It may cause people to be able to challenge a parking ticket and create temporary chaos with Christmas parking.
“We already have a lot of shoppers driving around looking for free parking.”
The parking permit scheme was introduced to St Paul’s in August 2015.
One local said: “It now seems likely that the same disgruntled person objects to the parking scheme.”
St Paul’s resident Tess Beck added: “Feelings often run high about parking, as even with the permit parking scheme there are more people wanting to park than there are spaces available.
“It’s not clear what this person’s problem is, whether they are unhappy at getting a ticket, or frustrated by not being able to find a parking space near their home, but they’ve gone to a lot of trouble to deface this many signs.”
Gloucestershire County Council noticed last week during patrols that the signs had been vandalised, a spokesman revealed.
He added: “Although these have now been cleaned, some of the signs have been damaged by the black paint.
“These signs will be replaced in due course. We will be monitoring the situation over the coming weeks.”
by Conor Gogarty