Residents are getting a “last chance” to say if they want controlled parking in several more streets in West Watford.

Earlier this year residents in zone m/n – between Harwoods Road, Whippendell Road and Hagden Lane – voted against the scheme with an overall majority of 60 per cent.

Currently parking restrictions in the area are only valid on match days.

However, Watford Borough Council has decided to bring in permit holders only parking between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Saturday for streets, including part of Harwoods Road and Princes Avenue, that had a clear majority in favour of the change.

Elected Mayor of Watford Dorothy Thornhill said a second consultation was sparked after 71 people living in Kings Avenue presented a petition to be included in the controlled parking zone.

She added the council was also being lobbied by residents in Cherrydale and Bramleas asking for the increased restrictions on their roads.

She said: “I am going to re-consult residents. We cannot do policy by petition, but majority vote.

“This will be the last chance, we won’t look at it again for two years.”

The new consultation will be going out in the next couple of weeks.

Mayor Thornhill said the council would go with the majority of the zone changing parking restrictions in all streets concerned if a yes vote was returned.

During the previous consultation, businesses in the zone launched a ‘say no to controlled parking’ campaign fearing their trade would be affected by the restriction.

Opposers also voiced concerns that parking was worst in the evening, when the controls would not be enforced.

But Mayor Thornhill said: “In the evening, it would be residents’ cars as they’ve come back from work.

“If there was enforcement in the evening we would just be giving out tickets to residents every single night of the week. Residents would suffer.

“The restrictions would mean hospital workers and people at the football club do not park on their road during the day.

“Businesses will be a priority. We will bend over backwards to make sure they are not damaged.

“Should residents decide they want a controlled parking zone, the people most going to be affected are households with more than two cars.

“In an area where there is more cars than space, we’re never going to win.”