05/07/06 - Cllr Childs, Residents Anger Over Car Traders

Elderly residents have vented their anger at second-hand car dealers who they say are making their lives a misery by turning their road into an illegal showroom.

More than a dozen second-hand cars are displayed for sale on Drakes Way, in Walcot, making it difficult to park and attracting noisy visitors late at night.

Two weeks ago residents said there was even a bus for sale parked on the residential road.

Swindon Council has stuck posters to the cars which are marked for sale, warning the sellers they may be breaking the law and warning potential buyers that the car may not be being sold legally.

A council spokesman said in the past some of the cars were sold by traders posing as private sellers, which is illegal.

But residents say the posters have failed to stop car sellers from blocking their road.

Ellen Saunders, 69, who has lived in Drakes Way for 43 years, said: "If an ambulance or a fire engine came, God knows what would happen.

"There's an old lady who's been dumped on the road with her shopping because the taxi can't get close enough to her house as there are too many cars. It's just not on."

She added: "The posters don't work, the sellers just tear them off and throw them on the street."

Retired bus driver Brian White, 68, is fed up with the noise of prospective buyers being shown cars.

He said: "It's wall to wall with cars at weekends. It's just bang, bang, bang with car doors.

"We've had meetings with the local police constable and with councillors, but they tell us there is nothing more they can do."

Councillor  Mavis Childs (Con, Walcot) who has been advising the residents said: "The sellers have turned the road into a garage forecourt.  I cannot believe there is nothing we can do to alleviate the suffering of those people on Drakes Way."

 

 

When the Advertiser challenged a second-hand car seller, Daryl Clingham, said he wasn't a car dealer and the car he was selling was the first he had parked there. He said he had heard about the site by word of mouth.

He said: "My mate told me it was the easiest place to display your car. I'm going to move it as soon as possible, because I didn't know it was the cause of complaints."

A council spokesman said: "We have had numerous complaints from residents about cars that are for sale being parked along Drakes Way.

We are attaching notices to these cars warning the sellers that they are potentially committing a number of offences by parking and advertising them there.

If people continue to park and advertise their cars along Drakes Way, they can expect to be prosecuted."

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