A supposed council crackdown on motorists parking illegally in the High Street in the evening has seen just seven penalty fines handed out in seven months.

Complaints poured in earlier this year after queues built up on Friday and Saturday nights as drivers stopped on the seafront side to pick up takeaway orders.

When the Herne Bay Gazette contacted council leaders about the issue in February, they said their enforcement officers would tackle the issue, handing out tickets to motorists stopping illegally.

But new figures released this week show just seven drivers have been penalised after 6pm in the seven months since – despite drivers continuing to park illegally in the road.

Kay Jones, who works as a shop assistant at The Pier coffee shop in the road, said: “I would like to see more penalties handed out because there is the odd occasion when you try to get past and there is a car in the way.

"In the evenings it is still a problem, nothing has changed as they still park there..." - Kash Anwer

"It is irritating and some people do have valid reasons, but people should never park on double-yellow lines on a main road.

“Once people start driving, they get lazier and think they can get door-to-door service.”

The council statistics show how 104 penalties have been dished out in the High Street between January 1 and October 12, but only seven after 6pm.

Vehicles can park legally in spaces on the bus station side of the High Street, but the seafront side is off limits at all times.

Kash Anwer, owner of Kash­tech mobiles in the High Street, said: “In the evenings it is still a problem, nothing has changed as they still park there.

“We finish at 5pm here so it doesn’t affect us, but it does affect other businesses in the evenings. There are just not many places to park in the evening.”

City council spokesman Rob Davies said the authority would continue to patrol the High Street.

He said: “We committed back in February this year to respond to concerns about parking problems in the High Street by increasing enforcement patrols there.

“We also said we would speak to businesses to make sure they are taking responsibility and asking their customers and delivery drivers not to park up in this way.

“Both of these things happened and the previous concerns now seem to have eased.

“However, we will continue to patrol this location – indeed, we were there on Friday evening and there were no issues requiring enforcement action and no penalty charge notices were given out.”