Castle Cary commuters parked on pavement find cars vandalised

Due to insufficient parking at the station, commuters have been parking on the pavement in nearby Station Road

Scores of commuters whose cars were parked on the pavement returned to find their vehicles had been vandalised.

Drivers who parked in Station Road - by Castle Cary railway station in Somerset - on 21 and 22 March reported scratches and wing mirrors being broken off.

Police said they were aware of the vandalism as well as the parking issues and had handed out 57 penalty notices to vehicles parked in Station Road.

Great Western Railway has said a car park extension will open in the summer.

Castle Cary station car park is currently half closed to make space for engineering works equipment which the transport provider said had "exacerbated the issue".

Somerset Highways said double yellow lines would be painted along Station Road within the next two weeks.

Rail commuters' cars have been targeted by vandals

Estate agent Chris Good said the parking issues were partly due to an influx of people moving into the area.

"It's one of the biggest draws for Castle Cary," he said.

"People [are] moving into the area because people can commute in less than two hours to Paddington.

"There needs to be a longer term solution to this. There is a car park being built, [but] hopefully there's going to be a solution in the short term that can rectify the vandalism taking place."

The station does not have enough parking spaces to keep up with demand

Resident Chris, parked his car in Station Road and said he returned to find an offensive sticker on his mirror and damage to his vehicle he estimated would cost £1,000 to fix.

"It was devastating," he said.

"My wing mirror was flapping around, so that had been smashed in and not just kicked, it had been bent.

"Someone keyed the whole lot too.

"I understand the frustration. I know it's not right for the locals but it's definitely not right for the people paying money for train tickets."

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