CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating after double red lines were painted on a busy road to prevent lorry drivers from parking there.

Councillors have won their ongoing battle to see lorries banned from parking on Williamsburg Avenue, near Lidl supermarket in Dovercourt.

The freshly-painted red lines – known as a red route clearway – indicate that no vehicles are allowed to stop on them during any time of day or night.

“Only a licensed taxi or blue badge holder can drop a person off on the red lines.

The red lines, in Williamsburg Avenue, which were installed by North Essex Parking Partnership to prevent lorries from blocking the road, stop them from parking overnight and to ensure safe traffic flow in the area.

Maria Fowler, Harwich councillor, said she cheered with joy when she noticed the red lines last week.

She said: “To me the most important part of all of this is the enforcement. HGVs were parking down there even with the clearway zone in place and I had not seen enforcement officers down there to move them on.

“Lorries were getting stuck down the road and were also really restricting the road, and it was just getting worse and worse.”

Maria said she and other councillors have been campaigning for nearly four years for a solution to stop lorry drivers from parking there.

She said: “I am extremely pleased with the red lines and I hope the HGV drivers will see the red lines and it will make some of them think and stop before parking there from now on.”

A North Essex Parking Partnership spokesman said: “The North East Essex Parking Partnership implements and enforces parking and waiting restrictions across north Essex, working with its member districts to address local priorities where they are identified.

“The implementation of a Red Route Clearway along Williamsburg Avenue, Harwich, close to a busy ferry terminal, will help ensure safe traffic flow, reduce congestion and make the road safer for all users.”