Tenby's Mayor has refused to back a harbour resident's method of deterring illegal parking in three permit holder only bays situated in St. Julian Terrace.

Householders who have paid for 'resident parking permits' to allow them to park in the street's bays have over the past few months had an 'unofficial arrangement' allowing them to self police their bays by using cones to act as a deterrent to prevent unauthorised use.

However, in a letter addressed to county councillor Mike Evans, written by Alistair Mackay, of Sheerwater, 4 St. Julian Terrace, which was brought before the town council at their meeting on Tuesday, Mr. Mackay states that since the cones had been removed by Pembrokeshire County Council, keeping the spaces free for the permit holders had become a daily problem.

"Illegal parking was never an issue when we had the cones, but has become a real problem since the county council ordered their removal," he stated.

Mayor, Clr. John Griffiths, is believed to have instigated the removal of the cones after noticing a bollard being used to cone off a disabled bay and minutes later a vehicle displaying a residents parking permit parked in the same bay.

This was an allegation that Mr. Mackay strongly denied in his letter.

"I repeat this has never happened," he stressed. "I would suggest that the permit he saw was not valid for St. Julian Terrace, but somewhere else in Tenby. It is clear that there has been some misunderstanding on these issues."

Mr. Mackay also felt that the county council could help clarify use of the bays by painting 'resident parking bay' in front of the three spaces in white. He also believed that the county council were contradicting themselves when it came to their stance on the matter of signage for parking.

"Clearly the county council itself feels the need to reinforce the regulatory signs with additional measures for the Harbour Car Park by displaying a hand-written notice saying 'This Car Park is for Permit Holders and Disabled Only'. I do not object in the slightest to this sign; it is eminently sensible to prevent the unwary parking illegally. What I do object to, though, is the blatant double standards being exercised here.

"We ask that our previous unofficial arrangement is allowed to continue, at least for as long as there is no opportunity of the authorities taking effective action to enforce these regulations," said Mr. Mackay.

In responding at Tuesday's council meeting, Clr. Mrs. Julie Evans sympathised with the residents' plight.

"I'm fortunate enough to be able to have my own parking space when I return home, so I can sympathise with these residents down the harbour who seem to continually have their allocated spaces taken by illegal parking," she said. "If I was in the same position as them, I would do the same thing that they have."

However, her colleague, Deputy Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Kerri Durham, was not in favour of the self-policing approach by residents.

"There should be no need for anyone to put bollards in designated areas," she claimed. "Before the residents parking bays were introduced, streets around Tenby were littered with cones, with residents trying to ensure their own parking spaces. It was like something out of the sitcom 'Bread'. The scheme was brought in to put a stop to that approach."

"It's illegal, you can't do it, simple as that. The rules should be the same throughout the town for the permit scheme," added Mayor, Clr. Griffiths.