Furious neighbours of King Charles‘s country home say they have nowhere to park because of hordes of tourists visiting the estate.
Residents living in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, near Highgrove House, pay for one of Britain’s most expensive parking permits.
But despite the hefty fee of £640 they can’t park their vehicles outside their homes and claim the town is used as a ‘car park’.
The price of the permits are double the cost of some of London‘s most expensive boroughs.
And only half of the spaces in West Street are allocated to locals, meaning they struggle to find a place to park.
Residents described the parking situation as a ‘free for all’ that doesn’t justify the hefty price of permits.
The estate, bought in 1980, is the private residence of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
The house runs public tours for charity from April to October and the gardens attract more than 40,000 visitors a year.
Residents living in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, near Highgrove House (pictured), pay for one of Britain’s most expensive parking permits
Despite the hefty fee of £640 residents can’t park their vehicles outside their homes and claim the town is used as a ‘car park’
Kenneth Ford, 68, (pictured) believes the town is ‘set up’ for visitors rather than residents
The estate, bought in 1980, is the private residence of King Charles and Queen Camilla
One resident, Kenneth Ford, 68, said: ‘Personally I think it’s a lot of money to be paying.
‘If you go somewhere with your car you have nothing to say that you had that space.
‘So every time you go somewhere and come back you could not have a space, so you could be paying the £600 a year for nothing.
‘At the end of the day, like in all these towns, it’s set up more for people coming into the town rather than the residents.’
John Evans, 87, said: ‘I was looking out my kitchen window one day and there was a coach full of tourists that had come from Germany, parked in West Street.
‘And because there’s a real need for large vehicles to have places to park, I’ve seen coaches in the car park here. It happens all the time. It’s crazy.’
Dee Buss, 78, added: ‘It has really been bad.
‘I have no choice but to buy a permit because parking in the street is nigh on impossible.
‘This my eighth year with the parking permit and the price has just gone up and up and up.
‘We have a situation where because we have so many Airbnb’s and second homes, people literally park where they see a space without thinking.
The price of the permits in Tetbury are double the cost of some of London’s most expensive boroughs
John Evans, 87, (pictured) said: ‘I was looking out my kitchen window one day and there was a coach full of tourists that had come from Germany, parked in West Street.’
Steve Tayler, 72, (pictured) described the parking situation as a ‘free for all’
The council does provide free parking for all at the Old Railway Yard car park in the town
‘In the house across, there’s an elderly disabled lady who had a hospital appointment on Saturday but couldn’t get her car out because another had been parked over her entry.
‘Obviously we’re happy to have King Charles over at Highgrove, but there’s so many tourists and it seems to leave Tetbury as the car park.’
However, the council does provide free parking for all at the Old Railway Yard car park in the town.
Councillor Paul Hodgkinson, portfolio holder for parking at Cotswold District Council, said: ‘With officers from the council, I have spent time in Tetbury talking to residents, local businesses and other stakeholders so have a good understanding of the issues they are facing.
Furious neighbours of King Charles ‘s country home say they have nowhere to park because of hordes of tourists visiting the estate (pictured)
The estate gardens attract more than 40,000 visitors a year and the house runs public tours for charity from April to October
The gardens are managed by The King’s Foundation, the charitable organisation which oversees all of Charles’ philanthropic initiatives
‘In recognition of the needs of season ticket holders, half of the standard parking bays in the West Street Car Park on Old Brewery Lane are allocated to them.
‘While we understand that holding a season ticket does not guarantee a parking space and that these tickets are not exclusively for residents, opportunities to expand off-street parking in the town are unfortunately limited.
‘In addition, we also provide the old rail yard carpark in Tetbury which is free of charge. We remain committed to ongoing dialogue with local residents and businesses.’
The estate, bought in 1980, is the private residence of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
The house runs public tours for charity from April to October.
And the gardens are managed by The King’s Foundation, the charitable organisation which oversees all of Charles’ philanthropic initiatives.
They attract more than 40,000 visitors a year with proceeds being ploughed back into the Foundation’s work promoting traditions heritage skills and building sustainable communities.
MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.
