PROTESTERS waved placards and made their feelings clear to councillors as they scrapped plans for residents’ only parking in Leigh and Chalkwell.

Southend Council ditched proposals for parking schemes in roads near train stations in Leigh and Chalkwell, arguing how too few people responded to its consultation.

Members of the Chalkwell Parking Group accused the council of betrayal and shouted “shame on you” as councillors binned the idea at their latest meeting.

Councillors said an alternative could be a yellow line scheme, with parking prohibited at a certain time.

However that didn’t go down well as it residents without driveways would clearly suffer.

Simone Fox-Gray, 43, of Cliff Road, who founded the Chalkwell Parking Group four years ago, said: “It just won’t work because most of us don’t have off-street parking!

“Many of us work in London and commute by train. Where are we going to park when we go to work or on holiday? I can’t come back from London to move my car! It’s disgraceful.”

Chalkwell Parking Group wanted residents’ parking only between 9am and 10am each day to prevent commuters from outside the area leaving their cars in their roads.

Members collected hundreds of signatures backing the scheme, but less than a quarter of residents responded to a council consultation on it – far below the 40 per cent needed for the council to introduce any measures.

Parking officers agreed to look at the petition and ward councillors will discuss alternatives with campaigners after lobbying from residents.

Resident David Pearce faced jeers from campaigners as he spoke against the scheme at the heated meeting.

Mr Pearce, of Beach Avenue, who has off-street parking, said:”We are the silent few in Beach Avenue who haven’t been vocal, but we need to be heard.

“If parking is so much of an issue for someone, it should be part of their choice when they buy a house in the area.

“The people you have heard from Chalkwell Parking Group are not everybody.”