05:30, 27 Sep 2025Updated 15:17, 27 Sep 2025<\/p>\n
![\"Shaheen](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1759023259_288_0_unnamed.jpg\")
Shaheen Khan called the vehicles “an eyesore” and claimed they are encouraging flytipping(Image: Grant Williams)<\/p>\n
Residents of a street in North West London are fed up with seemingly abandoned vehicles they claim have been taking up valuable parking spaces<\/a> “for years”. A walk down Bridgwater Road in Wembley<\/a> gives you the vibe of a breaker’s yard at times, as a graffiti-covered commercial food van, rundown classic cars and a spray painted old bus line the street.<\/p>\n However they are technically “not abandoned” according to the council so little can be done to remove them. Parking in the area is said to be “at a premium” and locals feel it’s unfair that spaces are being taken up by unsightly vehicles that don’t appear to be regularly used.<\/p>\n Shaheen Khan told the Local Democracy Reporting Service<\/a> (LDRS): “They’re never moved and a couple of them have been stationary for literally years. Although I say they’re never moved, they are replaced. If a vehicle<\/a> moves off then another one comes.”<\/p>\n Shaheen claims residents have raised the issue “endlessly”, with some even “having to park illegally” because there are simply not enough spaces. The vehicles include a blue and white bus and a yellow trailer that are covered in graffiti, which Shaheen believes has also encouraged fly-tipping in the area.<\/p>\n She said: “It’s an eyesore and what it then encourages is fly-tipping. It looks like abandoned vehicles so people think they can leave their rubbish near it. […] I have complained to Brent Council, I have taken pictures and sent them in. They really need to do something about this because it’s not fair to the residents.”<\/p>\n Residents aren’t sure who owns the vehicles but believe that they all belong to the same person as they are “covered in the same way and always parked there”. There are no parking restrictions on this stretch of road so locals are unsure if the owner lives nearby or is simply using the street for that reason.<\/p>\n She added: “We live here. Why should a third party come in and park [what look like] commercial vehicles for their benefit? It’s taking up parking spaces from residents who live across the road or visitors. Parking is a bit of a premium round here. It’s very difficult to find space. What also doesn’t help is the tower blocks going up<\/a> so people can’t find parking outside their own home.”<\/p>\n Local authorities have been given more power by the Government to crack down on fly-tippers, which includes the ability to destroy vehicles that have been dumped on the streets. The council’s ‘Don’t Mess With Brent’ campaign aims to take a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tippers and litterers across the borough – although the council has said these vehicles wouldn’t be eligible as they are not actually abandoned.<\/p>\n Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Enforcement, Cllr Krupa Sheth, said: “We do have powers to remove vehicles that are abandoned, but on this occasion we cannot use them as [each] vehicle is not abandoned. We have found the owner and we are in discussions with them about the conditions of the vehicles.”<\/p>\n![\"Shaheen](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1759023260_399_0_unnamed-1.jpg\")
Some residents are “having to park illegally” because they can’t find a space(Image: Grant Williams)<\/p>\n![\"Bridgewater](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_unnamed-3.jpg\")
Residents claim the vehicles have been there “for literally years”(Image: Grant Williams)<\/p>\n