Cambridge parking: DIY bays painted on street

There is room for at least three cars in the DIY painted parking bay

Neighbours have been left baffled after someone apparently marked out their own on-street parking spaces using white paint.

The "messy" DIY bay appeared on a road on the Orchard Park housing estate in north Cambridge.

The uneven parking bay has been made more unsightly after someone drove through the wet paint, leaving tyre tracks along the road.

The housing association responsible for the road said it was investigating.

The rogue painter created a space long enough for about three cars, even though there are no parking restrictions on the road.

One resident said: "It's ridiculous - who takes it upon themselves to paint their own parking space?"

One car was parked very neatly in the newly-created spaces

Another questioned whether it was legal to paint your own parking spaces.

One commented he "wasn't sure what they were playing at... anyone can park there and they can't actually stop them, so why they've done it, I don't know".

Cambridgeshire County Council, which has responsibility for public road markings, said it was not responsible for the unadopted road and any action would need to be taken by the developer.

The section of road where the lines were painted is the responsibility of housing association bpha.

A spokesman for the organisation said now it was aware of the lines "we will be removing the paint and will discuss the situation with our residents".

Unfortunately someone drove through the paint while it was still wet

A spokesman for Orchard Park Community Council said the issue highlighted "the fiasco of unadopted roads" whereby the Highways Act 1980 meant they did not have to be adequately maintained by the highway authority, which would be the county council in this case.

"The house builders and housing associations need to take responsibility and get all the remaining roads adopted," the spokesman said.