A holidaymaker riled residents with a polite note saying he planned to park on a residential road for free – rather than pay sky-high airport parking charges.
The driver, known only as Stefan, left his car in a housing estate in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, just a few miles from Stansted Airport.
He claimed he had to catch an “emergency flight” and vowed to return home with gifts – or cash – for the owner of the house he’d parked outside.
But when she shared his note on social media, exasperated homeowners took a stand against the driver for clogging up their streets.
One resident wrote: “It can’t have been that much of an emergency if he had time to write that note and make his way over to the airport.”
A resident, from Stansted wrote: “I’d leave him one saying instead of a gift how about using the airport car park!!”
Another person wrote: “He had time to park catch a bus or taxi and write and post a note! Clearly someone who is an airport parker pretending they’re not.”
A third wrote: “How cheeky. The taxis work 24h”.
With another person commenting: “Unbelievable”.
Parking in the estate before heading to the airport means Stefan could keep his car there for free as there are no parking restrictions on her road.
Parking in airports can cost around £50 a day for leaving a car in the airport – which means Stefan has saved around £250 in parking fees.
His note read: “Hello! The car outside is mine. Had to catch an emergency flight”.
“I hope it doesn’t cause you any inconveniences. If there is any problem please give me a call” and then left his number.
He finishes the note by writing: “I am back on 03.08 (Friday) at 01:00pm. I’ll bring you a gift from abroad or a few quids if you prefer. Have a great week!”
Although there was uproar amongst the comments, one Facebook user joked on the picture thread hoping the present he would bring her back was a “Toblerone.”
She added: “To be fair it’s probably going to be more of an inconvenience to our neighbours than us as they usually park as they usually park one of their cars on the roadside where he’s left his.
“I haven’t got a problem with it. I was just wondering if other people had had something similar from the same guy but it seems genuine. I’m looking forward to meeting considerate Stefan on Friday!
“But it it (sic) became a regular thing I’d report it. Thanks for the info though.”
Hannah Parsons, a solicitor at DAS Law, has says homeowners have no legal right to park directly outside their property.
She also says that there are equal rights for all road users to be able to park anywhere on the public highway as long as they not contravene parking restrictions.
She also states that there is no time limit on how long a vehicle which is correctly taxed can remain parked in a space on the road – unless it is abandoned.
