ANGRY Colindale residents are taking their fight against parking tickets to Barnet Council tonight in a bid to get their money refunded.

Three small residential roads in the area have been targeted in a clampdown by parking attendants, who have given drivers £50 fines for parking on the kerb outside their own homes – despite them doing it for over 40 years.

After residents met last week to arrange a protest campaign, organisers Nick Poullora and Rachel Zegerman will speak to councillors at Hendon's environment sub-committee tonight and ask them to back down.

Mr Poullora said that since the start of January residents in Woodield Avenue, Silkfield Road and Hillfield Avenue have been forced to park with all four wheels in the road, and 20 cars have been damaged by passing traffic.

He said: “We've been parking like this for years and it hasn't caused a problem – but now the council have targeted us to make money.

“I've been taking loads of photos to show how narrow the gap is – an ambulance would not be able to get through.

“The parking officers told us that Barnet Council instructed them to specifically target these roads – at 9am on a Sunday morning.”

“The council came to take photos to prove the road was clear at 11am on a weekday when everyone was at work and the road was clear. But a heart attack victim isn't going to say, 'it's a weekday morning, I'll have a heart attack now'.”

Mrs Zegerman has previously called for the council to change its policy – saying that lives were being put at risk because of the new parking arrangements.

Colindale's Labour councillor Geoffrey Johnson is supporting the residents' campaign, and has raised the issue on the agenda for tonight's meeting.

He said: “Residents feel this is very unfair especially as the grass verges were tarmacked by Barnet Council so that they could be used for parking.

“In other parts of the borough boxes have been implemented to facilitate this method of parking.

“Residents want this system be introduced in their roads in the interest of road safety and to assist the flow of passing traffic – especially emergency vehicles, otherwise there will be chaos.”