Wardens issue up to 100 fines in private car parks in Olympics parking zone in Barking

Syed Ahammad and Zakir Hasam said the parking attendants entered the car parks in Gurney Close, Barking, and left �130 parking tickets on windshields.

Their street is in a parking zone introduced to ease traffic congestion during the Olympics and Paralympic Games, but the residents maintain it should only extend to parking spaces on the highway - not the car parks.

Driver Zakir Hasam, 37, confronted a warden as she issued a fine last week but she refused to wave the fee.

He claims the worker said she was following orders but that the ticket would be cancelled if he took up the matter in person at a council on stop shop.

The pharmacist said he queued up for more than two hours at the Barking Library help desk but in the end was asked to launch a formal appeal.

Zakir said: “It’s a private car park. It’s got nothing to do with the council. The council never does any work there.

“I tried to explain that to them but they didn’t listen.

“I spent two-and-a-half hours - I waited to see somebody. I lost my working hours for nothing.”

His neighbour Syed Ahammad said residents received a council mail shot asking them to apply for parking permits to avoid parking fines during the Olympic Games.

But the law student said some residents had ignored the letters, believing they were general and did not apply to the private flats.

Syed, 33, said: “They should clarify if it’s for the private areas, and the road. If they don’t it’s wrong.

“There has been so many complaints about this. It’s private land. We need help.”

Barking and Dagenham Council said motorists could appeal the fines. A spokesman said: “These car parks in Gurney Close are included in the temporary permit zone which has been put in place for the Olympic period.

“As with any parking charge notice, people are free to appeal against the ticket, and have the option of taking their case to the independent parking adjudicator.