What locals say about airport users clogging their roads

For years the villages that surround London Stansted Airport in Essex have attracted fee-dodging holidaymakers who park up and hop on a bus with luggage in tow.

With parking at the airport itself often costing more than £100 for a week, the villages of Elsenham, Great Dunmow, Stansted Mountfitchet and Takeley can seem attractive parking alternatives.

Demand is growing as the airport is also undergoing an expansion to become the UK's second busiest airport, capable of processing 51 million passengers per year.

Villagers have even taken to putting up unofficial warning signs on streets to deter motorists.

Parsonage Road is the main link between the village of Takeley and the airport entrance, and Essex County Council says it is treating the situation "as a matter of urgency" after describing an "alarming" presence of cars lined up on the roadsides.

Mark Platt, the Conservatives' cabinet member for highways, said the authority was "exploring various options" to address issues affecting each of the residential areas.

Miriam Turton, 53, has lived near Parsonage Road for 12 years and often sees "shouting" and "arguments" between locals and drivers.

"I've been a culprit myself of getting very aggressive with some people, to be honest," she said.

"People are getting really aggressive driving towards you, sometimes you have to kerb it up on the side of the pavement. It's just not a great experience."

She added that there has been a lack of urgency from local authorities in dealing with the situation.

"They don't live here, so they probably don't really know the real suffering of the people taking their own life into their hands when they're trying to just get out of their road," she said.

Takeley Parish Council, which has been appealing for a resolution for the past two years, wants red lines painted on the road to prevent cars from stopping or parking.

"The red line [on Parsonage Road] was supposed to come down in January. It's now been postponed and been thrown out again," said Turton.

Stansted Airport has previously agreed to pay for the £22,000 cost of the county council's red lines scheme.

Turton believes it could be partially down to the actions of third-party companies.

"They're leaving their cars there whilst going on holiday," she adds.

"So these people aren't even aware that their cars have been moved out of this area where they should be contained."

A BBC investigation last year found multiple people were returning from holiday to find their cars damaged after dropping them off with a meet-and-greet service.

James Walker, 51, works in Takeley and has often witnessed local residents leaving angry notes on cars that have been left in the area.

"They're like nose to tail all the way along the road... which basically makes it a single track road," he says.

"You see people just get their suitcases out of the cars and then get on the bus.

He described seeing "lorries going up kerbs" to get through the narrowed roads an that locals have to "drive miles out of your way" if an accident closes the stretch.

Catering assistant and mother-of-two Lauren Scales has lived in Great Dunmow for more than seven years and says she has seen an increase in the volume of traffic in that time.

The 35-year-old believes this has made the town more dangerous for her children.

"People think that it's okay just to dump their cars and hop on the bus to the airport and I've noticed quite a lot of the residents have started to get quite up in arms about it," she said.

She said hundreds more residents would soon need more reassurances about the parking issue locally with large housing developments currently under construction.

"[It] is lovely for the community, it's wonderful, but I think there are certain things, maybe parking zones for residents [that would help],"she adds.

"Dunmow is full of children, and you see them in the summer riding their bikes, and you want to make sure that they're safe, and if there are cars littered everywhere, people can drive slightly erratically.

"My main concern, having two small children, is making sure they're safe."

Accountant Dave Williams, 54, has also witnessed the "dumped" cars.

"I know a lot of people around here... and their areas are notorious for people parking cars and leaving them for a week and jumping on the bus," he said.

Stansted Mountfitchet resident Brenda Burton, 70, said holidaymakers were "continuously" taking their own parking spots.

"They need to get it sorted out, especially if you can't park outside your own home that's sad," she said.

Her friend, Tina Smith, 62, said people "don't want to pay" for the expensive parking at the airport, and said she thought "nothing will change" until the prices do.

"It's all to do with money I'm afraid... money, money, money," Burton said.

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