Furious residents have blasted travellers after their street began to resemble an overspill car park for Birmingham Airport.
Cars have been left for weeks-on-end on Elmdon Lane in Marston Green, five miles from the terminal, according to people who live in the street.
Locals claim they already face a daily onslaught of railway commuters battling for parking spaces on the busy road – but now plane passengers are vying for a coveted slot.
Other popular roads to park on include Coleshill Heath Road and Church Road in Bickenhill, a thirteen minute drive from the airport. Parking can cost up to £35 per day.
Mike Weeks has lived on Elmdon Lane for more than 50 years. The 82-year-old said his next-door neighbour had just recently experienced a motorist parking outside his house for a fortnight.
‘It does happen. I get the daily commuters parking along the road – I understand a lot are going to Coventry and it’s busiest on Mondays and Tuesdays.
‘But my neighbour had one car parked outside his house for two weeks, so it is a problem.’
Cars are charged to park at the airport from £13 to £35 per day but savvy drivers are parking in streets a few miles away
Further along Elmdon Lane, a homeowner, who said he is a light sleeper, said that he often heard taxis pulling up at around 5.30 am to collect holidaymakers.
‘I can see them unloading their luggage from their cars before jumping into the taxi’, he added.
‘It’s absolute murder on this road for parking.’
Another resident, who wanted to remain unnamed, claimed to regularly see a traveller who leaves her car on the road for around three weeks at least twice a year.
‘I think she goes on a cruise’, he said. ‘She’s been doing it for years.
But a local who has lived in the area for 15 years pointed out that legally the vehicles are allowed to park on the public highway.
‘It’s a public road and fire engines can get down here. Most of us have quite wide drives so we can park our vehicles ok.
‘But the problem has got worse since parking was stopped at The Marston Tavern pub.
‘If the yellow lines weren’t here on the other side of the road then it would be horrendous but I don’t think parking is a massive problem.’
‘I know my neighbour has phoned the police before because a Vauxhall had been parked for two weeks outside his house.
‘When he looked inside, he said it was in a right state so he thought it had been abandoned but the police said it hadn’t.’
The issue was highlighted at a Solihull Council decision session last week where Councillor Ted Richards, cabinet member for transport and highways, approved a new policy for dealing with cases where a vehicle has been dumped in a public place.
The road filled with cars on the street from people who do not live there- but park there when they go on holiday
He said some ‘abandoned’ vehicles reported to the local authority belonged to those flying from the nearby airport in a bid to avoid costly airport parking charges.
Cllr Richards said: ‘There are two issues. One is people going away for a fortnight and the second is people parking all day and using the train station (Marston Green).
‘There’s a cul-de-sac on Elmdon Lane which is a short-cut to the railway station so holidaymakers will use that and park on Elmdon Road.
He added: ‘Travel West Midlands is encouraging people to go by train but of course there’s more people than provision to park.’
A resident on Elmdon Road who did not want to be named said: ‘Luckily our spot is not too bad but it is worse further north up Elmdon Lane and round the corner on Digby Drive.
‘The parking round there is much worse. People get a taxi from there and leave their cars for weeks. Everybody was complaining.
‘I can’t park at the local doctor’s surgery because of the cars – I have to park in a pub car park which charges.
‘People park in the road and then go off on holiday. A taxi from here to the airport costs £5 to £7.
‘It has been bad ever since the Marston Green railway station put up a sign to say they had a small car park in Elmdon Lane. That was three years ago. I have been here for 20 years.’
The Leader of Solihull Council, Councillor Bob Sleigh represents Bickenhill.
He said the issue was ‘a source of concern’ and a ‘common occurrence’.
‘It’s very inconvenient and it’s a bit of an imposition. Elmdon Lane and surrounding roads are the closest to the railway station so people will park there and jump on the train to the airport – it’s only one stop.
‘Marston Green as a village is affected badly.
‘I’ve had fairly regular calls from those affected by parking and I have experienced it myself before a traffic regulation order was put in place.’
Cllr Sleigh confirmed that measures were being put in place to address the problem.
He said that Elmdon Lane would be one of the first new schemes put forward by ward councillors to try and address the problem of long-term parking outside people’s properties.