A tailor claimed his dog was killed partly because of problems caused by illegal parking.

Giovanni Cacciapuoti, who owns a tailor shop in Market Street, says the amount of people parking illegally on the road, as well as Percy and Francis Road, has become a “joke”.

The 47-year-old, who has a permit to park on all three roads, claims his dog was run over by a car as a result of the way other drivers have parked.

He said on a Saturday night earlier this month (October 19), he tried to find a place to park in Francis or Percy Road to take his rescue puppy Fifi out the car as those roads were “quieter”.

But Mr Cacciapuoti said it was impossible to find a space, partly because of illegally parked cars. So he was forced to park in Market Street, which he also has a permit for after 5pm.

However, Mr Cacciapuoti says Fifi, who he only had for 26 days, had been spooked by the sound of cars as he took her out of the car, running into the road where she was run over.

Watford Observer:

Fifi was run over last week (photo credit Giovanni Cacciapuoti)

“If I had been able to park in either Percy or Francis Road my dog would be fine,” Mr Cacciapuoti said. “Me and my partner, Lory, are very distraught by this.”

Mr Cacciapuoti said it is not the first-time cars were parking illegally in the area, claiming drivers park their cars “however they want” daily and there were not enough traffic wardens to deal with the issue.

Pictures show cars in the town centre parking illegally on the corner of junctions and on yellow lines, which Mr Cacciapuoti called a “disgrace”.

He continued: “Businesses are suffering during the day because of the way people park and at night, there is not one parking space on Francis and Percy Road and Market Street.

“I have a permit, but other cars who don’t have a permit just hog the spaces and I don’t see any traffic wardens in Francis and Percy Road or Market Street.

“More traffic wardens are seriously needed to stop cars parking wherever they want.”

Watford Observer:

Cars parking illegally in town (photo credit Giovanni Cacciapuoti)

But Watford Borough Council says 200 parking tickets have been issued in Zone G (where the three roads are located) in the first 19 days of October.

Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said: “My sympathies are with the man who has lost his dog and I am sorry to hear about this. Residents have asked us to extend the controlled parking hours here because of an increase in late night shopping in our town centre.

“These longer hours came into force because residents supported this change and to help them find places to park. Our enforcement officers regularly visit this part of the town to see if vehicles are parked illegally.”