Frustrated shop bosses say new double yellow lines painted on the road outside are forcing customers away.

Bosses at TKM in St Richard’s Road, Deal, say business has dropped since the restrictions appeared two weeks ago – removing six parking spaces.

Staff at the bathroom, plumbing and heating shop have described the situation as a “fiasco”.

Melvin Garrett, who has worked at the store since it opened 21 years ago, said: “The yellow lines outside the front of the shop now stop us from parking out here.

“It stops customers picking up, loading up and dropping stuff off, and impacts delivery drivers.

“We are a business trying to survive in the town. We are just snookered.

“In my eyes it is ridiculous.

“We get customers coming in for heavy gear, which you cannot lug 30 yards up the road.”

The 56-year-old added customers want to be able to drop in quickly but now cannot without risking a parking fine.

“Our customers want to be able to just call in, get their stuff and go,” he said.

“This fiasco is ridiculous. I dare say someone has driven past in the last 10 minutes, seen the double yellow lines and thought they won’t bother stopping.

“It is just pushing customers away, and we have already noticed a drop in the number coming in over the past two weeks.

“When we get a delivery, we run the gauntlet.

“It is a case of getting the stuff out quickly. No one has been patrolling the area, but never say never.”

TKM was first notified of the plans in 2021 by Kent County Council (KCC), which sent a document detailing where double yellow lines could be placed.

The authority said the restrictions were required to reduce dangers posed by increased traffic from a new housing development in Cross Road.

But Mr Garrett says this is “utterly ridiculous” as TKM is a fair distance away.

“There is a new development going up at the bottom of Cross Road which, in fairness, is going to make more traffic going down Cross Road,” he said.

“Fair enough, the junction does need to be clear, but for 45 yards? I don’t think so - it’s utterly ridiculous.

“They also painted the lines and then extended them by about 20 yards. It’s stupid.

“I can see no logic to the situation whatsoever; all it’s doing is pushing our customers away and pushing business elsewhere.

“People aren’t going to park up here if they think they’re going to get £60 shoved up their shirt for parking on a double yellow line. It’s just crazy.”

A customer at TKM, who wished to remain anonymous, criticised the new yellow lines.

“I didn’t know they were here but I have parked here and taken the risk,” she said.

“I think it’s ridiculous. I have been coming here for salt for about 20 years and I don’t intend to go elsewhere.

“I have never felt unsafe parking here and never witnessed anything in the road which has made me think we shouldn’t be parking here.

“This is a business which relies on people being able to take heavy things from the store to vans and cars.”

When approving outline planning permission for 100 houses in Cross Road, Dover District Council stated the development could not be complete until efforts had been made to “implement a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) adjusting and prohibiting on-street car parking in the vicinity of Station Road, Sydney Road and Cross Road”.

The authority says this was “in the interests of highway and pedestrian safety and the free flow of traffic”.

The order was implemented following a KCC consultation, with the yellow lines understood to have been painted by a contractor acting for the developer.

A KCC spokesperson said: “As is routine, our team plans to inspect St Richard’s Road and Cross Road, Deal, in the coming days to ensure these double yellow lines have been in line with the requirements set out in the Traffic Regulation Order. This will inform us if any further action is required.”