Used resident's parking space to sell a Peugeot
A second hand car dealer who blocked a resident‘s parking space in Tooting for a fortnight while he tried to offload a gold coloured Peugeot has been fined for unlicensed street trading.
Todor Vakrilov parked the car more than a mile away from his premises outside someone else’s house while he attempted to sell it.
This "for sale" car deprived residents of a parking space for a fortnight.
Staff in the council’s operational services team spotted the vehicle - complete with a £1,190 price tag hanging in the window - during a crackdown on second hand car dealers occupying parking spaces in Mitcham Lane.
When Mr Vakrilov was interviewed under caution he admitted the offence and confirmed that he had bought the 2005-reg Peugeot 307 from a scrap yard in Lancashire for £525.
Residents in Mitcham Lane regularly have their parking spaces taken up by cars that are being sold by professional car dealers and Mr Varkrilov was collared as part of the council’s ongoing efforts to free up these spaces for people who live in the area.
Transport spokesman Cllr Jonathan Cook said: “Professional car dealers who park vehicles in the same spot for days or weeks on end cause real inconvenience to local residents. They are using the public highway like it’s their own private garage forecourt.
“We are targeting these professional traders so that we can free up parking spaces for the people living in the area who really need them.”
After hearing details of his financial circumstances Lavender Hill magistrates fined Mr Vakrilov £170 and ordered him to pay another £120 in court costs and victim’s surcharge.
The crackdown on car dealers is part of a two pronged approach that is also targeting builders who obstruct the highway.
Borough residents often complain about builders who cause parking shortages by storing materials on the public highway.
The council is also on the lookout for builders who do not want to pay to have skips removed when they are full of waste. Some are cutting corners by arranging for grab lorries to park in the middle of the road while they empty the skip – creating local traffic jams. This is because it is easier and cheaper for a builder to get rid of rubble and waste this way rather than have the fully laden skip taken away and replaced with an empty one.
To ensure that residents no longer suffer these types of inconvenience highways inspectors will be issuing on-the-spot fines to any builders they find behaving in this way.
Highway obstructions can be reported on (020) 8871 6708 or via onstreetservices@wandsworth.gov.uk
February 6, 2015
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