Traffic wardens caused havoc in a community of shops in Muswell Hill after they issued tickets to an entire street of cars. Workers regularly park their cars on the unused pavement of the tiny service road to allow Sainsbury's lorries

Miguel Cullen

Traffic wardens caused havoc in a community of shops in Muswell Hill after they issued tickets to an entire street of cars.

Workers regularly park their cars on the unused pavement of the tiny service road to allow Sainsbury's lorries to pass.

Traffic wardens claimed that they were breaking the law by parking on the pavement, despite drivers' claims that they had gone largely unnoticed before.

Samuel Kusi, 23, from Edmonton said: "They were treating us as if we were animals, saying 'You - move your car.' I felt disgusted - there was no warning at all."

While the council claimed that complaints had been received about pavement parking blocking access for delivery vehicles, shopkeepers were furious with the ticketing frenzy.

Haria Ashwin, 57, from Muswell Hill Pharmacy, said: "We offer a medicine delivery service - this clampdown means that we can't offer our service to housebound people."

Mehmet Zia, 58, from Carlton Cleaners, said: "I've been parking here for 25 years. They're just lying to make money. I pay £7,000 per year on business rates, and they're not even offering me a parking space? It's crazy! They can take me to court. Let's fight this."

The traders said that if they parked on the road as wardens had demanded the Sainsbury's lorries, which pass several times a day, would not fit down the road.

John Hankin, an office worker on Princes Lane, is going to court to settle his ticket dispute. He was fined in November for the same offence and is refusing to pay the fine before a parking tribunal hearing.

"I'm hoping this will all help my case." he said. "It's hard to respect what they're doing - it defies all logic. I'm hoping to get Haringey to put a parking bay in there."

Sheniz Suleiman, 24, from Enfield said: "They were rude - she had a smirk on her face as she gave the ticket. They came out of the blue and caused uproar."

Mr Ashwin said he had repeatedly asked for a Highways officer to assess whether cars could park on the unused pavement.

Traders have also claimed that as a service road, different parking laws apply to it.

A Haringey Council spokesman said: "The site was visited and parking restrictions enforced after complaints from local businesses about pavement parking blocking access for delivery vehicles to premises.

"There is clear signage of the restrictions that in some cases was being ignored."

broadway@hamhigh.co.uk