FURIOUS residents in central Blackpool were seeing red over double yellow lines which appeared without warning outside their houses this week.

The parking restrictions were painted on stretches of Bryan Road and Forest Gate and around the corners into the streets that run between the two -- Elm Avenue, Poplar Avenue, Maple Avenue and Myrtle Avenue.

But residents, unaware that the lines were to be painted, were left fuming when they returned to find they had nowhere to park their cars on Monday (Oct 15).

And to add fuel to residents' anger, council officers later admitted that some of the lines were too long and the workers would have to return to burn off the paint.

Geoff Maddocks, who lives on Bryan Road, said: "I'm furious. I was at home on Monday and spotted some men starting to paint yellow lines. One of them asked me to move my car so he could paint the lines. When I told him I would have nowhere to park he said that it wasn't his problem, it was council plans."

Mr Maddocks said that he phoned the council to find out what was going on and was told that the yellow lines were being painted in preparation for a new residents' parking permit scheme which was to come into effect in November.

"I was told that it couldn't be helped that we would lose residents' parking spaces in the process, " he said.

And he added that residents had not even been aware that the parking permit scheme, which had been mooted earlier this year, had been given the green light.

He said that he and other neighbours had received a letter months ago saying that the council was considering the scheme and asking him to return a form saying either yes or no to the proposals. He had said no.

"That was the last I heard about it. Nobody came back to tell us the result so I presumed they had opted not to do it. I'm not very pleased about it. Now there's not enough spaces for all the neighbours to park. What a great residents' parking scheme!"

A resident of Elm Avenue, who did not want to be named, also said that the appearance of the double yellow lines had come as a complete surprise. "It's really bad that they haven't notified us they were painting the lines, or even told us of their decision," she said.

And another Bryan Road resident said: "They sneaked in and started putting out cones at 7.30 in the morning. I thought it was just going to be some roadworks. I'm very annoyed.

"And to add insult to injury they are going to waste our council tax money to come back and burn off some of the lines. What a mess."

John Huck, a senior committee administrator at Blackpool Borough Council, said that the residents were told about the parking permit idea a number of months ago. He said that there were objections which went to the executive committee, but the committee decided to go ahead and make the order to implement the scheme.

"We will be giving notice in the daily newspaper in the near future. The scheme will come into operation on November 26," he said.

Cliff Bowman, a highways engineer, said that line painters had put down some of the markers for the scheme, but confirmed some were incorrect and would have to be burned off.

He said that the order had been advertised in the daily paper rather than contacting residents directly.

"The scheme will give everybody a better opportunity to park. You can never satisfy the demands for parking spaces. And the order doesn't come in until November 26. People can still park on those yellow lines until then," he said.

But when asked how residents would be expected to know that, he replied: "All they've got to do is ring up and ask. It's called communication."

Mr Maddocks said: "The council just seem to dismiss us. We weren't given a chance to be involved in the markings or layout of this scheme. We weren't given a voice. And not only were we not informed but now they've cocked it up themselves."