LIVES are being put at risk by Barnet Council's approach to residential parking, according to campaigning residents in Colindale.

Parking officers targeted two narrow streets in the area last week and handed out £50 fines to more than 35 people who had parked with two wheels on the kerb.

But angry drivers in Silkfield Road and Woodfield Avenue said parking with four wheels in the road blocks large vehicles from getting through – including emergency vehicles.

Resident Marie Cleary said: “I have been parking there for 30 years and I have never had a ticket. Nobody has been complaining about the pavement being obstructed. The way they've done it is insulting to the intelligence of drivers.

“Now there are wide cars parked both sides and it's causing an obstruction. My mother suffers from MS and lives in Silkfield Road, sometimes she needs an ambulance for hospital treatment.

“She's not the only elderly resident living on this road – lives are now being put at risk. I'd like to know who at Barnet Council will be responsible if something happens to my mother.”

Rachel Zegerman, who lives in Woodfield Avenue, organised a protest meeting of about 50 people and is taking a petition to the council to convince them to change their policy.

She said people in the street were angry that they were given no warning about the parking rules and thought that the fines were just a way for the council to make money.

She said: “I'm not going to let this go. I've organised campaigns like this before. Barnet Council will regret doing this.

Mrs Zegerman said that the officer that came on Friday was intimidating to her 80-year-old neighbour when she tried to challenge him. She said: “They parked illegally themselves but when we said we'd report them they said 'we're the ones who enforce it'.”

“An ambulance couldn't get through now – lorries could be banging into our cars and we wouldn't know who it was.”

Labour councillor for Colindale Geoffrey Johnson said he would be challenging Conservative council leaders on parking at the next council meeting.

He said: “What the council have done is wrong. What they should have done is inform the residents and ward councillors that they were doing a ticketing operation.”

A statement from Barnet Council said: “Parking on footways is not permitted unless there are clearly marked bays and signs.

“The council has carried out regular enforcement around Woodfield Avenue and Silkfield Road for a number of years with no change to enforcement levels.

“These two roads do not permit footway parking with vehicles seen to breach the restriction issued with a penalty charge notice. Local residents are only notified when there are changes to parking restrictions.”