Half a dozen police officers had to intervene to stop parking wardens towing away a Streatham Hill resident’s car, after outraged residents had blocked in their tow-truck.

Streatham Hill resident Pamela Janson-Smith said she was directed by Thames Water to park her car in front of sewage works in the centre of Palace Road - because of emergency sewage pumping pipes obstructing her driveway.

The road had been devastated due to a burst water main and sewage system collapse on June 10, and work is still ongoing to fix the drainage system.

But traffic wardens ordered a tow-truck to remove Mrs Janson-Smith’s car only half-an-hour after they had slapped a ticket on her windscreen at 9.15am.

A group of 10 residents came out to protest the wardens’ behaviour. They said Mrs Janson-Smith was parked in front of a cage protecting the sewage works, so was not obstructing traffic in any way.

One resident stationed her car in front of the tow-truck so it could not drive away.

According to residents, soon a group of six wardens had amassed, who called the police to get them to move.

But when the first police arrived, they asked for back-up, and eventually six officers arrived.

An inspector then ordered the vehicle to be released because in his opinion it was regarded as legally parked, according to residents.

David Gardiner-Hill, one of the first residents to speak to the parking attendants, said: “It was absolutely ridiculous.

"You had half the police force, six wardens and a dozen residents involved in something brought on because parking attendants could not interpret the right thing to do.”

“It's really unbelievable, and completely insensitive to the situation.” he added.

Residents had been subjected to a similar incident during the initial floods last week.

As reported by the Streatham Guardian this week, wardens had tried to hand out fines to motorists who had parked on kerbs to help emergency vehicles pass.

A Lambeth Council spokesman said the council respected people’s rights to raise their concerns but could not condone action that jeopardised people’s safety.

He said: “This vehicle was clearly dangerously parked right in the middle of the road and was causing a serious obstruction.

“Our crews did absolutely the right thing, and after consultation with the police and senior council managers decided that for safety reasons, it was best to put down the car, but parking restrictions exist for a reason and people can’t take the law into their own hands like this.

“Our parking enforcement teams have an important job to do keeping our streets safe and clear.”

Lib Dem ward councillor Jeremy Clyne who was also invloved in negotiations, said: "Lambeth says it operates a fair parking policy and only tows away in the case of serious offences.

"This vehicle was not in any way causing an obstruction. From what I witnessed today Lambeth parking is acting like a money-making machine targetting unfortunate residents."

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