I leave sarcastic notes on illegally parked cars in my town – drivers hate it but I won’t stop
A LANDLADY livid at her council's failure to tackle illegal parking has resorted to slapping sarcastic cards on cars congratulating "selfish" drivers on their shoddy parking.
Mary Thornton-Smith began handing out cards that read, 'Congratulations - your vehicle has blocked the pavement' near her micropub during lockdown.
The landlady of The Witch's Brew in Southampton, Hants, has grown frustrated at council inaction over drivers who block pavements.
The 59-year-old insists the cars force pedestrians, wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs to walk into the "dangerous" main road to get past.
After being rebuffed by the council, and having already handed out more than 500 cards, Ms Thornton-Smith is not giving up the fight yet.
That's because she fears there could even be a "fatality" outside her business in the Shirley area of the city.
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Mary's cards, which she began handing out at the end of the first Covid lockdown in 2020, read: "Congratulations! Your vehicle has blocked the pavement.
"Pedestrians, wheelchairs, pushchairs, cycles and scooters use the pavement too. Please park more considerately in future."
On why she had the cards printed, Ms Thornton-Smith said: "I noticed people who couldn't get by in pushchairs and wheelchairs and that sort of thing - it's dangerous.
"Cars are longer these days and they hang over the pavements.
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"Mums and dads had to go onto the really busy, major road with their children just to get past the selfish drivers' cars.
"It made me feel anxious for them and ashamed for the drivers - I drive a big car but I always make sure I am not in the way of anyone."
At the end of her tether, Ms Thornton-Smith finally decided to have 1,000 cards printed and has now given out about half of them.
She recently contacted Southampton City Council, inviting councillors to a meeting at her pub next month to discuss the issue.
But she was rebuffed with an email telling her all councillors for her area had 'prior engagements' for the suggested meeting date of July 5.
The landlady claimed: "I contacted the city council and their response was, 'We are all busy'."
Ms Thornton-Smith says she even asked the police to come down and take a look at the carnage but they told her they have "very little power when it comes to parking".
She added how the situation is "a huge problem that no one wants to address" and that if left unchecked "will get much worse" when a school opens across the road in September.
Ms Thornton-Smith has suggested the solution may lie in employing parking enforcement officers to monitor the problem that way "people wouldn't be parking in this stupid manner", she claimed.
She added: "I also put my business first, and it wouldn't look good if there were a fatality outside the pub."
It wouldn't look good if there were a fatality outside the pub.
Mary Thornton-Smith
Other local businesses have praised the enterprising landlady for the cards, while others fear no one will pay attention to them.
Keith Harding, co-owner of Garage No.7 just a few doors down from The Witch's Brew on Shirley High Street, says something needed to be done about illegal parking and welcomed Ms Thornton-Smith's cards.
The 61-year-old father of two said: "I couldn't agree more with the principal of the cards.
"My wife uses a mobility scooter and though they have lowered some pavements, when somebody parks a vehicle there they deserve everything they get.
"I just think it's ignorant and people with mobility issues suffer."
But though some residents applaud her campaign against illegal parkers, others don't hold out much hope for her "self-righteous" method.
Local James Anderton, 34, fumed: "The cards are very sarcastic... They get your attention, but most people will just ignore them.
"Will it solve the problem? No. It'd probably be better if she just walked out of her pub and talked to them.
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"People will probably pay no attention to this. It's very self-righteous. It's up to the local council to deal with it."
The Sun Online has approached Southampton City Council for comment.
