A couple who have recently moved to Bexleyheath say they are unlikely to stay for more than six months due to parking dilemmas.

Francis Thomson, 35, and his partner Hana Nawazish, 27, moved into Drayman Court in Pickford Road at the beginning of February.

As they moved in their belongings over a few days, they parked their car on roads near their new home, sometimes slightly on the kerb for short periods.

“I thought it was OK to park on the kerb because everybody else does it,” Mr Thomson said.

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Google Maps satellite images taken in 2017 show several cars parked on the kerb on the road where Mr Thomson was fined.

But just as they were starting to settle into their new home, they were welcomed to the area by two parking tickets, racking up a hefty fine of £220.

One of the fines was for parking on the kerb, and the other was for parking in a permit zone during restricted hours.

When Mr Thomson disputed the tickets with the Council and explained he was new to the area, he was told to apply for a parking permit.

But when he tried to do this, he was denied a permit for either of his two cars on Pickford Road, with no explanation.

As a result, he now has to regularly move his car to and from permit bays and pay for several hours’ worth of parking on pay and display machines to avoid being fined.

“So far today I’ve had to move my car twice. It’s lucky I work from home,” he told the News Shopper.

He added there are limited parking spaces in his building and he is running out of options for parking.

“We love the area in general but without better parking I don’t see ourselves living here longer than six months,” he said.

A spokesperson for Bexley Council said: “Our parking team have looked into this permit application, and are arranging for the development to be added to the permit system by the supplier.

"Once this is done Parking Services will liaise directly with the applicant and guide them through the application process.” They added that the address Mr Thomson supplied had not shown up on their permit system, but this has now been resolved.