An East Oxford resident is furious after he was issued a £70 parking charge notice when there were no other spaces available.

Stephen Law says he was forced to park on double yellow lines near his house in the east of the city after spending 15 minutes unsuccessfully looking for a space.

Mr Law explained that this was despite him paying £40 a year for a resident’s parking permit that is displayed in his car.

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He blames the fact that the amount of parking available to residents has been reduced by the council.

Mr Law said: “I have never expected to be able to park on my own street and I have regularly parked some way from my house.

“But in recent years there has been the introduction of cycle racks which has cut the amount of parking spaces that are available to residents.

“It is typical to see residents parked illegally and often they get up early before the wardens come to move their cars.”

He explained that he had appealed the parking charge notice but was told he still had to pay it.

Mr Law added: “It is a point of principal.

“Residents are not being treated fairly.

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“It is ridiculous that I pay for a parking permit but get fined when I am not able to park.

“They need to either provide us with significantly more parking immediately or stop giving us fines when we are forced to park illegally.”

Oxfordshire County Council has been approached for comment on the claims made to the Oxford Mail.

A county council spokesman said: “If this permit holder would like to get in touch with our parking team, we would be happy to look into his concerns.”