Residents have been told to stop putting traffic cones in parking spaces(Image: Google Maps)

Residents in Welsh town threatened with prison over putting cones out to reserve parking spaces

30 Oct 2024, 14:49 by Jonathon Hill · Wales Online

Residents have been threatened with prison because they keep putting cones out to reserve parking spaces. Ceredigion council wrote to residents at Maes yr Afon in Aberystwyth informing them they could be jailed if they continued to place the bollards on the street.

Residents clubbed together to buy the traffic cones to stop drivers parking on their street which is near the town centre. Maes yr Afon neighbours a pay and display car park but locals say drivers often will park on residential streets surrounding the car park instead.

They have responded to the letters by calling on the council to make their street for permit holders only. Councillor Mair Benjamin, who lives at Maes yr Afon which is next to Park Avenue football ground, said she couldn’t believe it when she received a letter along with the other 14 homes on the street. Locals say the area is busy with people wanting to park all year round.

Images also show wheelie bins in parking spaces in the busy street near Aberystwyth town centre(Image: Google Maps)

Maes yr Afon, Aberystwyth, where residents have been told to stop putting makeshift bollards in the road or they could face jail(Image: Google Maps)

The letter sent to residents from corporate director for highways Rhodri Llwyd reads: “It has been noted that some residents of Maes yr Afon have been placing traffic cones and/or other objects on the highway to reserve parking spaces for their own private vehicles. We write to remind you these objects may constitute an unnecessary obstruction of the highway. If a person without lawful authority or excuse in any way obstructs the free passage along a highway (they are) guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks or a fine, or both.”

Cllr Benjamin, 79, who suffers with ill health including a heart condition and a bad back, said: “We have previously felt like we were getting residential parking but that has never happened. I am currently very restricted and I use a walking frame which I keep in the boot. I need that parking space.

“There are residents here who are elderly and they require a spot close to their homes. So we started purchasing the cones and putting them out earlier this year. You would get the odd person, not very polite, who would move the bollards and park their car.

“One of these people must have called the county council. Then all of us have received letters. Of course in the following days I had lots of people knocking on my door in disbelief. I’ve told my neighbours: ‘If they want to throw a 79-year-old woman into prison over all of this and they want to free up spaces which should be for real prisoners for me then carry on.’”

The letter residents received from the council(Image: Mair Benjamin)

The street neighbours a pay and display car park but locals say people would rather park for free in the residential areas near the car park(Image: Google Maps)

Cllr Benjamin said it isn’t only her street which has the issue, but many streets in and around Aberystwyth town centre. “We’re now getting to a point where the population of my ward is getting older and the people living on the streets are getting older and we need to be able to park near our homes," she added. "The money that would come in for the council for parking permits would be lucrative. No-one is asking for parking permits for free."

A Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “Whilst Ceredigion County Council does not comment on individual cases, placing items without permission on the public highway thereby causing an obstruction is an offence under Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980.” You can get more story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.

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