Residents say they feel victimised by plans to stop them parking outside their historic cottages to ease access to a new development opposite.

Among those who would be affected by the scheme are a young mum who struggles to get her double pram across the busy road and her 44-year-old neighbour, who is disabled and has terminal cancer.

Kent County Council (KCC) is consulting on the proposals, which involve painting double yellow lines for a length of 47m outside Invicta Cottages at the top of Farleigh Hill in Tovil, near Maidstone.

The 10 terraced homes were built in 1870 for farm workers and have no rear access and no front garden to speak of.

It means the occupants of the 150-year-old cottages have been parking in the road.

But now KCC wants to put an end to that to provide “better access to Farleigh Heights”, a relatively new housing development opposite.

One resident of Invicta Cottages, Lord Norris, said: “It’s totally unfair. Farleigh Heights was only built eight years ago. It feels like we are being victimised.”

He explained that where the new homes now stand, there had once been a piece of scrubland, where the residents used to park.

But the new development meant they’d had to move.

For a while they parked in a lay-by off Farleigh Hill, but that was lost, when housebuilder Vistry started developing the land behind and around Invicta Cottages.

Mr Norris said: “We have to park outside to unload shopping, or if we need to work on our cars. We have nowhere else.”

His wife Lisa said: “The traffic does speed here, but our parked cars are actually useful in slowing down the traffic.

“If KCC wants to make the road safer, they should put in speed bumps or a traffic camera.”

The couple said they had tried parking within the new Farleigh Heights development, only to be confronted by angry residents there, who said it was a private road.

Mrs Norris said: “On one occasion our car was keyed, so we stopped parking there.”

Young Mum Rachel Powell has ignored the protests and mostly parks in Farleigh Heights opposite, but she said: “I have a double pram and it is no fun trying to cross the road with that.”

She added: “I would not be a fan of double yellows.”

Anna Howlett, 44, is disabled and has terminal cancer.

She said: “I’ve heard rumours about these double yellow lines, but I‘ve had nothing from KCC.

“Because I am disabled I need to park outside my house. There isn’t anywhere else. Where does KCC expect us to park?”

As a blue badge holder, Ms Howlett would be able to continue parking on any double yellow lines for a period of three hours at a time.

Another resident, Kelly Shoebridge, said: “Why are we a problem?”

“Cars have been parking here for decades without causing any obstruction.

“If our parking is removed, residents will have to park further up Dean Street, where the road is narrower, has no pavements, and is on a bend. This will create a real danger.”

She queried whether the traffic order issued by KCC was even legal, since it identified the cottages as being in Dean Street, whereas in fact they are on Farleigh Hill.

Meanwhile, a resident of Farleigh Heights has stressed they had “no involvement” in the plan for double yellow lines.

They added: “Farleigh Heights is a private road where currently all repairs to road, pavements, fences and all groundwork come out of the residents’ pockets.

“The reported ‘keying’ of the car was nothing to do with any residents of the street.”

There is some glimmer of hope for people living in the cottages, though.

Vistry, the developer that has taken over the former PJ Burke’s land behind the cottages, is in the process of building 272 homes on the 6.3-hectare site.

When it did away with the layby below the cottages, the company promised that when the development was complete, it would allocate 10 parking spaces for the Invicta Cottages residents - one each.

That development is expected to be ready in January next year.

Ms Howlett said: “That’s all very well, but a lot of houses have more than one car, then there’s visitors and deliveries. it is not going to solve our problem.”

The KCC order for the double yellow lines is currently out for consultation.

Representations can be made here.

Vistry said it had in fact made a temporary car park available to the Invicta Cottages residents - close to the entrance to its building site.

A spokesman said: “Before starting our project in December 2023, a layby in deteriorating condition was used by some residents on Farleigh Hill for parking.

“Prior to our Section 278 works and our removing the old layby, we constructed a new 11- space car park for the 10 cottages on Farleigh Hill who had used the layby for parking.

“This was Tarmac-surfaced, white-lined and illuminated to provide a temporary car park for residents.

“During our early phase of residential construction, we will construct a permanent car park that the residents will once again use following construction works.

“It is anticipated this new car park will be opened by the summer of 2026 but may be subject to change.”

Vistry’s development is being undertaken in partnership with Legal and General Affordable Homes.

The site is a former ragstone quarry, dating from Roman times, which was later used as a domestic rubbish tip.