§ 24. Miss Burtonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware of the nuisance caused to householders in the central area of London by the continuous and indiscriminate parking of cars in front of their premises ; and if he will refer the problem to the Commissioner of Police with the aim of giving householders reasonable access to their own premises.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeBoth the Commissioner of Police and I are well aware of the problem and sympathise with 809 householders in the inconvenience to which they are subjected. Parking in front of someone else's house is not in itself an offence. In the absence of a statutory prohibition on parking in a particular roadway—which would apply to residents and non-residents alike—an offence is committed only if parking causes an obstruction of the highway. Within the limits of their resources the police take action when obstruction occurs.
§ Miss BurtonWhile appreciating the right hon. and gallant Gentleman's sympathy, is he aware that it neither keeps m. Dr. nor lets me see out of my window? Has he seen a letter in The Times today where a man says that his car is immobilised in his garage, that he cannot get it out because of someone parking? Furthermore, the police said that they could do nothing about it and would prosecute him if he took action. This is beyond all bounds. Will the Home Secretary consider introducing legislation such as that just mentioned?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI need hardly say that I share the hon. Lady's view completely, because I am sure she is not the only one who has got wet. As the law is at the moment, the police can act only if obstruction is caused on the highway. The real difficulty of the police is that their main task—and, believe me, it is an extremely heavy one—is to keep traffic flowing, and they do their best to do so. If there is no such obstruction in side streets, the police cannot act. I have had this matter in mind for some considerable time, and I am in very close consultation with my right hon. Friend about it. I hope that the hon. Lady will accept from me that I do sympathise very strongly with her and will do everything possible to put the matter right.
§ Viscount HinchingbrookeHas not the time arrived when my right hon. and gallant Friend should take powers to enable the Metropolitan Police, within certain times and in certain streets, to impose an absolute ban on the parking of all unattended cars and vans, except those serving the occupiers of the premises?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeMy noble Friend will remember that my right hon. Friend 810 the Minister of Transport set up a Committee earlier this year to look into the question of which streets should be forbidden for any parking. From what he said then, I think that this report should be available very shortly.
§ Mr. BellengerWill the Home Secretary at least take steps to see that those who park their cars on the streets—and I do not support the attitude that the householders have the right to the frontage of the roads—at least do not lock their cars, as that is often a great cause of obstruction when they have to be moved either by the police or private individuals?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI agree with the right hon. Gentleman. It is most annoying. I have myself known a car to be locked and the owner to have gone away for three weeks. I do not know how many police we should require to go round each car to see if it was locked when it was left unattended. The first step is that we should hear from my right hon. Friend the results of the investigation by the London Traffic Advisory Committee to see in which roads parking could be forbidden. Then the police would be in a very different position.
§ Sir John CrowderWhile I agree that the owner of a house has no prescriptive right to the "foreshore" and can only try to persuade people not to park in front of his house, would not the Home Secretary agree that it is really intolerable when cars are parked in front of people's garages? Consider the case of a doctor who requires to go out at night to attend a case who finds a car he cannot move in front of his garage. Surely that is an obstruction or something.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeIt sounds very like it to me. I am not a lawyer, but parking in front of someone else's house is not an offence. Whether in the case my hon. Friend has referred to of someone trying to get to his garage could be put down as an obstruction, I do not know. As a layman, I should have thought that that was a good description of it, but whether that is the law, I do not know. So far as the front of a house is concerned, it is not an obstruction to leave a car there.