Pensioner was left trapped inside her house by cars parked in a bay across her front gate

A pensioner was left ‘trapped’ inside her house after cars parked in a bay that stretched across her front gate.

Carol Tabere, 75, said that a parking bay inches away from her front gate meant that vehicles would block her from getting out of her house in Withington, Manchester.

On top of this, a lack of pavement directly outside her home prevented her from leaving the premises on Hill Street to walk her dog or go to the shops.

Ms Tabere said the parking space has now been painted over with double yellow lines, after she complained to Manchester City Council. 

The space was among other bays that had been introduced as part of the Christie Parking Scheme.

However, following feedback from residents, its more recent extension has now been paused to be reviewed.

The council has also confirmed that the bay has, in the last few weeks, been painted over with double-yellow lines outside her house as part of ‘remedial works’, but previous pictures show just how narrowly close cars had to park to her front gate to be within the designated bay.

Ms Tabere, who suffers from angina and narcolepsy and can no longer drive, has expressed her annoyance at the scheme.

The pensioner, who has lived in her home for 31 years, said: ‘I wasn’t being pedantic and complaining for the sake of it, but I don’t have a pavement outside my house, so when cars were parked there there was no way I could get out. I was trapped.

‘I told them (the council) to send someone out to take a look. People were coming and parking up and everytime I opened my door, I would say ‘oh no, not again’. I was constantly going out and putting notes on people’s cars asking them not to park there. I know it was a lined bay, but common sense would tell you it’s right outside someone’s gate.

‘My son had said that if paramedics needed to get in the house, they wouldn’t be able to, or if the house was to set on fire, I would’ve been trapped’, she told  Manchester Evening News.

The Resident Parking Zone (RPZ) was first implemented in 2015 to address the impact of parking on the surrounding residential areas.

However, this caused displaced parking issues in the wider Withington neighbourhood, coupled with the expansion staff and visitor numbers at the hospital, prompting the expansion.

‘People didn’t think they were doing anything wrong because it was a parking bay. I have had to tell people they are blocking my path, and one man even swore at me when I asked him to move and called me an ‘old b***’,’ she added.

‘There were days I would try to go out with my dog, and would have to shuffle past the cars and drag him along past the hedge.

‘The council could’ve put the spaces on the other side of the road, where there is a pavement and no houses. But instead, people come and wallop their doors into my hedge.

‘It’s been a nightmare, but when they removed the space I was delighted, because I could finally get out of my house.’

Despite the fact that the bay outside her door has been removed, Carol says bays further up are still so close to her garden hedge, that cars are now forced to scrape along her privets.

A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: ‘Earlier this year the Council informed residents in the vicinity of the new Resident Parking Zone that its rollout was being paused following feedback from the community.

‘In the case of this resident, remedial works were carried out to implement double yellow lines in front of their property to prevent future parking.’