Traders in parking war on ‘lawless’ street in Wembley

Cars are left abandoned on Market Way (Image: Archant)

Stephen Curry, who owns Wembley Recycling on Market Way, said traders on his road claim it is private and are trying to stop him from parking on it.

However the road is owned by Brent Council and Mr Curry is calling for the town hall to resolve the issue by repairing the street’s potholes and clampdown on fly-tippers targeting the area.

He said: “I have had threats and a vehicle vandalised for parking outside my own business on this road because other businesses claim its private.

“They’ve even drawn a line on the wall and have threatened me if I cross it.”

An 'illegal' no-parking sign (Image: Archant)

He added: “The council have forgotten this road. It’s full of pot holes, yellow painting hasn’t been done in years and people are dumping their cars around here.

“There’s a car with no tax on it that’s been parked there for two and a half years.”

Atul Hirani, who runs Car Care Centre opposite, told the Times the street was a “public highway but a private road” with only half of it belonging to the council.

When the Times photographer Jonathan Goldberg visited Market Way he was caught in the cross fire between Mr Curry and Mr Hirani.

He said Mr Hirani made obscene gestures at him while he was trying to take photographs.

Mr Hirani has since apologised to Mr Goldberg saying the gestures were geared towards Mr Curry.

A spokeswoman for Brent Council confirmed the entire road had been adopted meaning it belonged to the town hall.

She added: “Both the footway and carriageway were last surveyed in October 2015, the defect scores were reasonably low so would not have been prioritised to be included in our highways maintenance programme.

“Safety inspections are carried out yearly to identify defects requiring reactive intervention. The next one is now due and will be programmed shortly.

“An inspection will be made of the road to identify faded parking lines, fly tipping and abandoned vehicles.”