BLACKPOOL Council has gone 'over the top' with its parking meters say residents who've now got to pay to park outside their homes.

A South King Street resident has told The Citizen he can only park for a maximum of 80 minutes AND he must pay 80p for the privilege.

"We have double yellow lines round the back of the house and a parking meter right outside the house," said 68-year-old pet shop owner, Ross Swift.

"It means I have to get up earlier in the morning and come home later at night.

"South King Street looks more like a jungle than a street. There are about 12 notice poles, and the street is only about 100 yards long.

"We just think the council have gone over the top with it."

Ross' road is one of several which fall in the council's new 'outer zone' of metered parking, operating daily 9am-6pm. Residents who breach the new rules can be fined up to £60.

Homeowners in other roads such as Leopold Grove, Dickson Road, and Church Street will also be affected by the council's new Creating SPACE pay-to-park scheme, which came into force on Monday morning.

Ross says residents have been used to time restrictions on parking on South King Street for around 20 years, but charging them to park outside their own homes is a step too far.

"The houses that have got these parking meters will have gone down in price rather than up, because of having no parking and not being able to leave your car outside your own front door," he said.

"There's been no consultation.

"There's been no suggestion that, for example, we might be able to have a permit and maybe put 20p and that would cover us for the day.

"We're just asking for a little bit of a concession where the people who live here have a little bit of leeway. We're not asking for the crown jewels."

A Blackpool Council spokeswoman commented: "During the public consultation of this scheme the issue of a concessionary rate for residents was never raised.

"It is envisaged that the practicalities of such a scheme may be difficult but we will, however, investigate the feasibility of the idea and see if other towns have adopted a similar policy successfully.