Our ancient village is blighted by tourists dumping cars to dodge £268 airport fees – we're fighting back after a DECADE
VILLAGERS revealed they are fed up with holidaymakers dumping their cars to dodge £268 airport fees while they jet off - leaving their roads clogged up for weeks.
Residents on North Road in Takeley, Essex, say they're being plagued by motorists dodging parking fees at nearby Stansted Airport.
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Restrictions are in place on the road, which is just eight minutes from the airport.
But locals say the rules are ignored, with no enforcement in place.
Parking booked online for four days at Stansted Airport starts from £59.99 — but paying on the day can cost as much as £268.
Locals fear someone could be seriously hurt or killed, following a surge in drivers abandoning their cars before jetting off over the past 18 months.
The turf war has dragged on for over a decade — but fed-up residents are now demanding a ban on non-residential vehicles along their road.
One couple have resorted to putting cones out to save their space - while another woman said she'd been spat at when asking someone to move their car.
Ana and Luis Dos Santos have lived at their two-storey home on North Road for eight years and said it was "chaotic".
Ana, 34, said: "It is horrible to come back and not have a space for your car.
"It is chaotic especially if you have kids - walking to the end of the road for the bus stop.
"They just don't care."
Luis, 55, added: "I borrowed cones from work so we can save our parking spot from airport parkers.
"It has been a nightmare, especially in the summer months.
"If there is an emergency, there is no way a fire truck or ambulance could get through.
"You have to look left and right for your car not to be scratched."
Luis said he would be prepared to pay for a parking permit but it was a 'last resort'.
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He explained: "We already pay a lot to the council. If it does come down to a parking permit - as a last resort - then we will pay it.
"But we are mainly concerned about the safety of the children who walk to the end of the road. Safety is top priority especially for the kids."
Bill Collinson, 77, said cars had been parking along North Road - and the adjoining Parsonage Road, for ten years.
Parsonage Road offers a direct route to Stansted Airport, allowing drivers from south Essex to skip the M11 — making it a favoured shortcut.
Retiree Bill said North Road is often packed with cars left by holidaymakers who then catch a taxi or bus to the airport.
He said one German man had stopped him and offered £700 to park on his drive while he went away.
Bill said: "He pulled up to me and said he'd give me £700 to park outside my house. I said no, more like £7,000.
"This has been going on for ten years - people parking in front of driveways, blocking people in. It's disgraceful.
"Someone should come along with a flatbed, pick them up and get rid of them. It's dangerous."
Bill said up to 20 cars are often parked along Parsonage Road, making it hard for residents to pull out from the already crowded North Road.
He added: "The front of my car was almost hit the other day when I was pulling out because I just couldn't see.
"It's worst in the summer when you have the businessmen getting away and people going away on holiday.
"You see them leaving their car behind and walking up the road with their suitcases.
"I've written to Kemi Badenoch (MP for North West Essex), the Highways enforcement team, Takeley Parish Council, Essex County Council - no one will do anything.
"This has got to change before someone gets hurt."
Local councils are considering traffic measures like controlled parking zones, clearways, red routes on main roads, and resident parking permits.
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Vicky Pearson has started a petition demanding urgent action to stop North Road from being used as a "parking lot for airport commuters".
Vicky, 60, who has lived on North Road, Takeley, for 25 years, says she's "fed up" with seeing up to 12 cars parked on the street each week.
She said: "People are frightened to pull out of these streets now. When we are going on holiday, we are paying for a cab so why can't other people?
"If you can afford to go on holiday, then you can afford to pay parking."
Working as a security officer for FedEx, Vicky struggles to see when pulling out of her junction on North Road because parked cars block her view.
Vicky added: "All we need is yellow lines and a sign that doesn't allow for people to park here that are going to the airport.
"It would be a lot safer for Takeley and the surrounding areas."
'I'M DISGUSTED'
Many residents share the frustration, with some even resorting to vandalism in the past to try and stop airport parking on their streets.
With the road being near a local primary school, the petition is dedicated to make the roads safe and is asking for the council to help.
OAP Terrance Martin, 93, said he was disgusted with the parking.
He said: "We have tried and tried with trying to stop airport parking.
"I wonder how there has been no accident."
"I am disgusted with it.
Barbie Wilks has lived all her life in Takeley and said she had witnessed people being abused for asking others to move their cars.
She explained: "We used to ask people politely but we stopped since people started to shout abuse at us.
"One neighbour who was pregnant was struggling to get out her car.
"She had been blocked in by someone and when her partner asked them to move the car, they threw rubbish on the road.
"We have been screamed at, shouted at and spat at.
"It is getting to the stage where something bad is going to happen.
"Most people are fed up to their back teeth."
Barbie said she would be in support of parking permits to stop 'a whole road of airport parkers'.
She added: "All you hear is people beeping their car horns.
"I have watched people and families from the bottom of the road get out of their cars and get the bus to the airport."
Dan Saull, 48, has lived in his North Road home for 40 years and said he believed it was the airport's responsibility to sort things out.
Dan, a scaffolder, said: "I totally understand why people park on the main road, times are hard and airport parking is expensive.
"But for the last three or four years it has been a real problem.
"I walk my dog at early times of the morning and you see them try and park prestige cars here.
"I tell them not to park around here because some people will damage the cars.
"I nearly hit someone the other day, you cannot see, especially when cars are parked on the kerb."
Dan, who lives with his dog Ted, added: "For me, the airport should step in. They should do something about it. Lower their prices."
WHAT IS BEING DONE?
A North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) spokesperson said: "NEPP continues to work with partners, including Uttlesford District Council (UDC) and the Fly Parking Task Group, to look at long-term, joined-up solutions to airport-related parking issues, rather than piecemeal fixes.
"While past proposals have faced challenges and not moved forward, we remain committed to supporting effective and enforceable restrictions where appropriate.
"A UDC-commissioned parking review covering the wider area is currently being prepared for publication, though North Road has not been flagged directly in it.
"In addition, a Cabinet report on 19 June, presented findings from the Takeley consultation and broader parking work in the district.
"We will consider any outcomes relevant to North Road once that report is published.
"We encourage residents experiencing parking issues to use this route to formally raise concerns and help us identify workable, supported solutions."
Uttlesford District Council said dangerous or obstructive parking, such as blocking access to a highway and parking on a bend, was a police matter.
A council spokesperson added: "We are aware of the issues raised and as an issue of public safety the responsibility lies with Essex County Council, via the North Essex Parking Partnership, as the highways authority."
It is understood that Stansted Airport works closely with Essex County Council, the Uttlesford District Council Enforcement Team and Trading Standards when any issue of potential fly parking is identified.
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