I use bags of rubble and cones to stop neighbours taking my parking space – they hate my barricade but I don’t care
A MAN who uses bags of rubble and cones to stop neighbours taking his parking space says he doesn't care that they hate his barricade.
Dennis Skipper, 71, has upset some residents of his street over the last decade by setting up obstructions to prevent anyone else parking in front of his gate.
However, the defiant great-grandfather has vowed to continue putting out the unusual obstacles to reserve his space for his Ford Ranger Wildtrak truck.
Some residents have accused him of selfish behaviour by trying to make sure that nobody else can park their car when he is out.
But self-employed plasterer Dennis insists he is only trying to protect his motor by parking it in front of his security cameras.
He claims he has repeatedly had vehicles scratched in vandalism attacks when he has been forced to park them elsewhere in his street out of sight of his home.
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Other residents say they have complained to the local council about him leaving out traffic cones and rubbish bags in Southend, Essex.
One resident who asked not to be named claimed: “He has been doing it for about ten years. People have had enough.
“It used to be traffic cones, but more recently it has been sacks full of rubbish or builders’ rubble.
“He has his truck parked outside the house, and then on the days that he works or goes out, he just puts out obstructions to stop anyone else parking in his spot.
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“It isn’t fair because there are no parking restrictions in the street, apart from the yellow lines at the end and the areas outside people’s driveways."
The resident said everyone struggles with the limited parking but Dennis think it's only his right.
They continued: “It can be a struggle finding a parking place and people have to leave their cars where they can – but he seems to think it is his right to park right outside his house every time.
“I mentioned it to one of the council’s civil enforcement officers and asked him if they could give this geezer some parking tickets or notices, but they didn’t want to know."
'HE DOESN'T OWN THE ROAD'
And they added that some moved his obstructions out the way while others did not want to upset him.
They continued: “Some people used to sometimes move his traffic cones out of the way so they could park– but others don’t want to do anything to upset him.
“I have seen other drivers occasionally just drive over his sacks or barge them out of the way. They have every right to do so because he does not own the road.
“It seems reasonable for a householder to put out stuff in the road to reserve a parking space if they have builders round or something special going on.
“But to do it every day of the week for years on end is just not on.”
'GOING ON FOR YEARS'
Father-of-four Dennis who has lived in the road with his partner for 34 years, said: “I have to park outside my house because If I park a vehicle anywhere else, I get it scratched.
“I used to get back from work at 7pm or 8pm, and by then someone would be outside my house if I had not put anything out.
“It has been going on for years. I had a new Ford Escort and then a Ford Puma, and they both got scratched when I parked down the road."
Dennis adds that he purchased a new Transit van which also got "really badly scratched".
“The Puma got done the worse. Somebody put a big Z down the side. I never found out who was doing it.
"There was thousands of pounds of damage. I kept on putting it through my insurance and my premium went up from £250 to £2,000.
“It must have been about 20 times. The police were not interested because they said I was insured."
I have to park outside my house because If I park a vehicle anywhere else, I get it scratched
Dennis Skipper, 71
Dennis said he was forced to put up security cameras and said the alleged attacks have since stopped.
“A friend of mine put up security cameras for me outside my house and it never happened when I parked in front of them.
“I used to have floodlights which went on, but then the people living opposite complained that the lights were too powerful.
“I have a couple of modern little cameras now which are much more discreet and just send the images to my mobile phone.
“They are very effective and put anyone off interfering with a vehicle outside my house.”
Dennis, who has eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren, said he originally used his own supply of traffic cones, left over from an old building job, to mark out his space.
He said: “I had a load of cones. But they have disappeared over the years. The last few were taken away by guys laying new fibre optic cables in the road.
“They had finished up and they had someone picking up all their cones and barriers, and mine got picked up as well.
“Now, I am just using a couple of bags containing old branches from a tree that I cut down in my garden. I just keep them in the front and put them out when I am driving away.”
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Dennis said he had also had to twice put up with people dumping cars outside his house, meaning it was impossible for him or anyone else to park there.
He added: “The police did not want to know. One was an old Rover which was there for six months and it as full of rubbish."