Hilldene Kebab owner angry after being given two parking tickets on his food van in a week.

Tom has been working in the Hilldene shopping area for 29 years selling kebabs from his van. Over the last few years and in particular the recent weeks the parking issues across Hilldene shopping centre have made an impact on Tom’s business, including been issued two parking tickets in one week!

Tom reached out to the Havering Daily following our series of articles on the parking issues across Hilldene shopping centre. Many residents have stopped using the local shops in fear of being given a parking ticket by the over zealous traffic warden. Shoppers who come to the Harold Hill shops find the ticket machines not working and many walk to find the nearest ticket machine and by the time they return they have been given a fixed penalty notice by the traffic warden.

Tom believes this has made a serious impact on his business.

“I trade legally, I have a licence, I have been working here for many years supplying food to many local shoppers and local residents who come here. I do not understand why they are giving me this grief. We have had issues with customers who cannot park, or the ticket machines aren’t working or they have been given a ticket. And now last week we were issued two parking tickets ourselves.

“I showed my licence to the traffic warden, I told him we had been here for years but he carried on giving me a parking ticket whilst we were trading within our licensed hours and within our parking bays and serving customers.

“All these issues are making an impact on my business now after years of being here. After all the lock downs things have been hard and we are all trying to get back on our feet. You would think they would be encouraging local businesses to do well, not the opposite.”

A Havering Council spokesperson said:
“This ticket was issued in error by a new member of staff. We will contact the business owner to apologise for the oversight and have cancelled the PCN.”