DEFIANT residents have vowed to continue parking outside their homes - even if double yellow lines are painted by Bury Council.

Four householders in Ostrich Lane, Prestwich, have taken the strong stance after learning that the highways department has proposed to install the parking restrictions in front of their properties.

Adjacent to the houses is a private driveway leading to an apartments complex, Heaton Court, and the double yellow lines are to be painted on either side of the entrance for a distance of 15 metres.

The council published the proposal in the Bury Times on January 21 and attached a small notice to a lamp post on the opposite side of Ostrich Lane after residents of Heaton Court complained about poor visibility as they drove onto Ostrich Lane.

Nigel Devereux (38), who lives in one of the four cottages affected, said: "The notice was brought to my attention by a neighbour eight days after the appeal date. There are only four houses directly affected and you would think Bury Council could post just four letters informing us of their plans. I work as a senior housing officer in Oldham and if I employed tactics like that I would be annihilated. This is not consultation; it is a very underhand way of doing things."

Neighbour Ian Bentley (57) said: "I have lived here for 24 years and before the flats there was a garage on the site. In all these years, I have never experienced or heard of any incident involving this junction. Residents of Heaton Court enjoy the same safety as we do by being able to park their cars on the road where they can keep an eye on them."

The householders said Bury Council would be better off looking at a whole range of traffic calming measures for the Ostrich Lane area as it was used as a rat-run from Hilton Lane to Bury Old Road.

Mr Devereux said parents regularly parked in the lane to drop off and pick up their children from nearby St Monica's RC High School and motorists drove at speed in the direction of Bury Old Road.

If the double yellow lines are introduced to the lane, the residents would be forced to park their cars further along the lane where they fear they would be a target for vandals as the area is not overlooked by houses.

Mr Bentley said: "Even if they do put lines down, I won't stop parking here. I will continue to go to court if get fined but I will not move my car."

Mr Devereux agreed: "I think that goes for all of us."

A spokesman for Bury Council's highways department said: "It is standard procedure to put a notice on site and place an advert in the local press. As regards the residents' concerns, we will consider them and take them on board before we make any final decision. If someone raises an issue like this then we have a duty to look into it and in this case it was a request from the people who come out of the access to Heaton Court."