'Selfish tourists' cause parking chaos for locals in pretty UK seaside town

Locals in this little seaside town are fed up of having nowhere to park outside their homes as "selfish tourists" take up parking spots - as they claim visitors "have no respect for residents". 

Parking in Filey, North Yorkshire, has become a sore subject for many locals who say they struggle to find anywhere to park their vehicles. 

Meanwhile, tourists say they fear being "confronted" by angry residents or risk having their cars purposefully scratched.

Filey resident Alex Emmott, 27, a teacher, told Express.co.uk of his frustration at having to move his car "every hour" to find a new parking spot during the summer holidays while at home. 

He said: "I stayed up until 10pm last night to wait until I could move my car to a space where I wouldn't have to move it this morning. If we want to park on the street outside our house, the only day you can park there all day is Sunday. Every other day is an hour, no return within two hours."

He added: "When you can't find a space, you just have to move it every hour. That's all I did on Saturday. I did hour shifts in the house because I had to keep moving the car. And traffic wardens are on it. You'll see a lot of parking tickets."

There are more spaces during the off-seaon, he explained, but that's only from September until March when there are fewer visitors.  

On a local Facebook group, one visitor described an experience she had when parking opposite a "rude" man's house who she claimed "confronted" her while with a young child. 

She said: "If you choose to live that close to country park and the beach, you should expect people to park there".

Local Jane Marshall, wrote: "I'm disgusted with people's behaviour. This poor home owner is obviously fed up with everyone blocking him in and not being able to park in front of his own home. What happened to manners and respect? There doesn't seem to be any. It's just a case of 'I'm on holiday and I don't care'." 

Richard Pearson commented: "Visitors have no respect for local residents. They selfishly park on local streets with no thought for where local residents are going to park. They do this to avoid paying parking charges. 

"Currently, there are five cars parked outside my house and across the road. These people do not live on my street. Where do they think residents are going to park?"

Another warned tourists to "be careful there's a resident on a street near there that will scratch your car, especially if he thinks you're a holidaymaker".  

Local April Richards said more roads in Filey need to be made into "permit zones," adding: "I can never get parked outside my house in summer." 

Parking for business owners is also a problem in the town as there are limited spaces and those lucky enough to get one have to pay a yearly fee for the spot, which is not always guaranteed, one business owner told Express.co.uk. 

Kay and Phillip Waddington, who own the local greengrocer, said they managed to get a parking spot in the town - out of the 10 available - but it costs them £375 for the year, on top of business rates. 

"The spot is not always guaranteed either because disabled badge holders get priority," she explained. 

Kay explained that the extra competition for parking is not just from tourists, but also since big buildings in the city centre have been made into individual flats. 

Filey Town councillor Mike Cockerill told Express.co.uk: "Parking in summer is always a problem for residents. I am unaware of any plans that North Yorkshire Council might have to alleviate the situation."

In response to the Town Council raising the issue, North Yorkshire County Council replied: "North Yorkshire County Council do not currently have funding available to undertake any new residential parking schemes unless an alternative third party funding stream is provided, to assess, consult and undertake the implementation required.

"The most recent parking review and consultation conducted in Area 3 was for Whitby town centre and took almost seven years to finally be implemented.”