Some residents in a town centre are being charged £305 a year for the privilege of parking outside their own homes.

People living in Gateway, in Basildon town centre, now have to pay hundreds of pounds for an allocated parking bay or face the zeal of clampers who have been charging scores of disabled drivers £95 a time to release their cars.

One resident claims people living above the shops in Gateway have parked outside their homes for years without paying a penny because traffic wardens have not handed out tickets on the single-yellow-lined street.

But they will now have to pay Basildon Town Centre Management Company, which runs the town centre, to park.

Dozens of shocked and angry disabled drivers have contacted the Echo after being clamped in the service roads around the town centre since a new parking arrangements came into force on April 1.

The Gateway resident, who did not wish to be named for fear of repercussions, said: "Why should we have to pay?

"This is ridiculous. We already pay rent and council tax. We paid the first installment for the six months from April 1, but we never had to pay in the past."

Most of the street's parking bays have been allocated to stores. The flats above the shops have also been given parking spots, provided their occupants are ready and able to pay the £305 annual fee.

Jim Furnival, general manager of the Town Centre Management Company, said: "There are parking bays for the people in the houses and flats if they want them.

"Everyone thinks they are a good idea. It will now be self-policing because no one will park there."

He added: "We have been selling spaces in other parts of the town for two years and there have been no problems."

Published Tuesday, April 22, 2003

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