ANGRY residents are calling for a change in the law so they can park outside their houses on bank holidays without being fined.

They want restrictions forbidding parking in residential areas in Chesham on weekdays to be lifted after several were given tickets for parking outside their own homes on bank holidays.

More than 200 of them have signed a protest petition started by Waterside councillor Peter Hudson, who is hoping to have 500 signatures by the time it's handed in at County Hall next month.

Cllr Hudson said residents have been complaining since a privately contracted firm was charged by Buckinghamshire County Council with enforcing parking in the town instead of Chiltern District Council.

He said: "On bank holidays a blind eye was turned to people parking in residential areas where there were restrictions. There were never any prosecutions - they understood people were all home and there wasn't enough parking for people.

"Since the county took the enforcement powers back they have been enforcing to the letter of the law and appearing at eight o'clock on a bank holiday Monday and ticketing every single car, which we feel is unreasonable."

Cllr Hudson accepted the enforcement was being done legally, adding colleagues at the county council were "sympathetic" to the situation and understood residents' concerns.

Anne James of Transport for Buckinghamshire said: "The lines that are there are due to original requests from residents. Unless there were safety concerns we would not have just implemented the restriction for our own purposes. 

"Any changes would have to be fully consulted before we could amend and we would need to take into account the congestion and safety implications. As the original request came from the residents it is highly likely that there would be significant opposition to any changes.

"It is also likely that if we were to change them then they would find that the amount of non residents parking would be extensive. 

"It should be noted that it takes approximately 12 months to implement a new scheme including all the informal and formal consultation etc. As this is not included in this year's plans it would be at least April 2013 before we could consider this scheme."

To view the petition go to https://tinyurl.com/cnpy47h .