ANTISOCIAL parking is making life a "nightmare" for those living in a busy Horley residential street.
Every day commuters and shoppers park in The Drive to avoid paying for town centre parking.
It means those living in the street – and in adjacent Hyperion Walk – are often left having to park a long way from their homes.
Some drivers have resorted to stopping illegally on the yellow lines, rendering the road impassable to minibuses visiting the nearby accommodation for the elderly.
Resident Pauline Bryant, said: "The cars clog up the road and people leave the car for the day.
"My son was here the other day collecting rubbish so he was on the drive but I couldn't park on my own street; it's a problem."
The 44-year-old added: "With people parked in the legal bays and on the yellow lines, disabled buses can't get down.
"Come the weekend it can be a nightmare with shoppers."
Residents in Douglas House – a sheltered accommodation scheme for elderly people – should be protected from the problems by their private car park on adjacent Primrose Drive.
But with only 7 spaces to serve 27 flats, carers and visitors often have no choice but to park in the road.
Resident Gary Smith, 71, said: "We have a 97-year-old lady who lives here and if there is no parking out there she has to walk."
Malcolm Christmas, 67, added: "People park on the road all day and we have some people that park for weeks while they're on holiday – they just take the chance."
Residents say on-street parking restrictions – which only allow those with permits to park between 10am and noon – do not help.
They claim shoppers either arrive moments after the ban is lifted, or take their chances.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said: "We were told the road would be monitored, but it's not and the excuse is that there aren't enough traffic wardens.
"It's a nightmare."
Susan Lea, spokeswoman for Raven Housing Trust which runs Douglas House, says the company is in talks to extend the Primrose Avenue car park, which was initially built to ease parking problems in the area.
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council was unable to respond before the Mirror went to press.
