Croydon Council has been slammed as ‘weak’ for failing to crack down on classic cars clogging up Thornton Heath streets for years.

Residents claim the council’s inability to permanently move the cars has allowed the owner to ‘hoard’ vehicles and act as though they can do what they like regardless of the effect on neighbours.

It is claimed the classic cars all belong to the same person, a former resident of Norbury Road who has now moved but left an array of vehicles behind.

An attempt to clear them away after the council identified them as ‘abandoned’ failed when the former resident claimed them all as his, meaning they couldn’t be classed as abandoned.

The vast collection of classic cars, bikes and even a boat, many of which have rusted, have taken up space on Livingstone Road and Norbury Road for years, according to residents.

Locals claim at any one time over the last 10-20 years there has been around 18 different vehicles parked across the two roads and on the driveway of the property he occupied, which has since been boarded up.

Residents told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) they have had enough.

According to Thornton Heath Councillor Karen Jewitt, a lot of the cars are not roadworthy and parked illegally.

On a visit to the area last week, one Livingstone Road resident told the LDRS: “There are people on this road who say that it has been going on for 20 years. Everyone’s had enough.

“People come down and take photos of the cars all the time because they think they’re collector’s items. They’re not, they’re just falling apart.”

One young resident living on Norbury Road told the LDRS: “I’ve been here most of my life and I’ve always just known him as that man on the corner.

"He just parks his cars wherever people will allow it. I don’t mean allow it by giving their permission, it’s just they won’t kick up a fuss.”

Some of the cars reported to belong to him are parked one in front of the other and some are double parked making the road narrower.

This array of rusting cars has led to concerns from residents that emergency service vehicles will not be able to properly access the nearby properties.

The Livingstone Road resident said: “Trying to get a fire engine or ambulance up and down this road is difficult as he’s also got cars running adjacent.

"Fire engines have tried to get up here before and they can’t, or it takes forever.

“Even rubbish collection vans struggle, and they’ve had arguments with him because they may have accidentally clipped one of his cars.

"People even came to try and put yellow lines on [the road] for parking and he [allegedly] refused to move the cars.”

Many residents are pointing the finger at Croydon Council for a lack of action over the years.

The Livingstone Road resident added: “As much as this guy is a nuisance, this is Croydon’s fault.”

Posts from residents complaining about this issue on a Thornton Heath community Facebook page date back to at least 2019.

Residents say the council has previously removed some cars from the road, only for them to return in the months following.

More recently, the council placed notices of removal on each of his cars parked on the road but the cars have not been removed, however the notices appear to have been taken off.

A spokesperson for Croydon Council said: “At the beginning of June 2024, the council, responding to complaints from local residents, took action to tackle abandoned vehicles on the public highway.

“The owner of these vehicles claimed all of the cars identified by the council which prevented us from removing them under the abandoned vehicle process.

"The council is now pro-actively seeking alternative arrangements to deal with this issue.”

A lock-up at the rear of the man’s former address, which used to house carpets when the building was a retail space, is another cause for concern among residents who are worried about a fire risk from what they say is a huge pile of clutter contained within including flammable materials.

As the wait continues for effective action to be taken, some have given up hope.

Another Thornton Heath resident on her way to the high street told the LDRS: “These cars are a nightmare, but I can’t see Croydon doing anything about it.”

The LDRS made attempts to approach the former resident for comment but were unsuccessful.

A planning application to convert the boarded up property into three one-bedroom flats with a two-storey rear extension was recently received by Croydon Council, and a decision is pending.