Cars for sale menace

4:00pm Wednesday 27th August 2008

SECOND-HAND cars being sold on the streets of Abingdon are stopping people parking close to their homes.

Vehicles are being advertised for sale in a lay-by just yards from the town's police station.

People living near Marcham Road said they were fed up with lines of cars - all advertised for sale - blocking the lay-by near their homes.

However, the practice is not illegal and trading standards officers said they were powerless to do anything about it.

In the past two years, householders have written to Oxfordshire County Council, the Vale of White Horse District Council and Thames Valley Police, but residents said the problem had got worse recently.

Ernest Wright, of Galley Field, said the police and district council have not helped.

The 79-year-old said: "They should be prosecuted, end of story. It's not a sales court, it's not an extension of the forecourt, it belongs to the public not the individual.

"It's getting worse and progressing now along Drayton Road.

"I am not the only person annoyed, they are taking over the road."

Lorry driver Alan Smout, 51, who lives in nearby Winterbourne Road, said: "As you have to have 45-minute breaks, if I am near home I try to park up the lorry in the lay-by and nip home to have a cup of tea, but it's becoming more and more of a problem to get parked up.

"It's becoming a nightmare really as you can't park anywhere.

"It started with one or two cars and it has just snowballed and gets worse every day.

"Normally there are about nine vehicles there all for sale. I am sure there is someone trading there."

Michael Townsend, 73, who used to live in Preston Road but now lives in Oxford, said he had witnessed an accident along Marcham Road where the emergency services had been unable to clear the road as they could not move the vehicles into the lay-by because it was full of cars for sale.

Abingdon Town Council has written to the county council and trading standards about the problem.

Steve Rich, project and technical manager, said: "There are six to eight cars parked in that lay-by.

"It does seem to be a business is going on, you see all the for sale signs outside a police station, which seems a bit cheeky.

"It's not the sort of thing we want on a busy junction as it's a busy road."

Trading standards officer Ian Marriott said: "Oxfordshire County Council does not have any powers to get these vehicles moved or prevent them being sold in this way.

"We are monitoring the sales and ensuring sellers who are traders comply with their legal obligations.

"We would welcome any information from the public about traders selling cars at the roadside."

To speak to Oxfordshire trading standards, call 0845 051 0845.