A BUSINESSMAN branded Blackburn with Darwen Council a joke after being issued fines for parking on his “driveway”.

John Houlihan was handed four penalty-charge notices after officers from Capita visited his home on Friday.

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The grandad of 10 said that he is allowed to park his vehicles on the “pavement” outside his home in Bentham Road because he owns the land.

However, the council argued that the vehicles have been parked in violation of its rules and issued the fines of £70 each.

The 47-year-old has lived in the ex-Bentham Road Methodist Church for nine years and had notices served on his Range Rover, Mercedes Sprinter van and Mercedes X5. Another Mercedes, belonging to his son Chris, 23, was also given a fine.

Mr Houlihan said: “The vehicles are parked fully on my land and always have been.

“There have never been complaints from anyone as I have left enough room for people to walk down the side.

“It may look like a pavement but it is in effect my driveway and the council know this. It is a joke and there is no way that I am going to pay these fines. I will fight them all the way on this. My land is clearly marked as private so everybody can see this is not a pavement as such.”

Two Capita officers visited the property at 11.30am on Friday to issue the fines.

But Mr Houlihan, a landlord who owns 89 houses in Blackburn and Darwen, has vowed to fight the council and convince them to cancel the charges.

In an email to Capita, Mr Houlihan’s solicitor Stephen Rees said: “These vehicles were not parked on a restricted area. They were parked on the pavement which is in the ownership of the vehicle owners. They are allowed to park there. The council is aware of this.”

A council spokesman said: “Civil enforcement officers visited the area around Bentham Road due to repeated reports of vehicles parking in contravention of the restrictions. There are several streets with double yellow lines and several vehicles parked in contravention, in addition to being parked wholly on the pavement/footpath.

“If the owner of any vehicle issued with a penalty-charge notice disputes that a contravention occurred, they may submit an informal challenge in writing following the instructions on the reverse of the notice.”