A consultation which could see a number of Sidmouth roads changed to residents’ parking only will soon arrive through householders’ doors.

The places under consideration include Sidford Road, Manstone Lane, Alexandria Road, Station Road and some areas on The Esplanade and by the River Sid.

If it gets the go-ahead, the scheme would mean drivers will need a residents’ permit to stop-off in the streets.

The Devon County Council (DCC) review focuses on issues in areas near the town centre where residents typically do not have off-street parking and may experience displacement from vehicles used by shoppers and commuters, making parking near their homes difficult.

Garland Pickard, of Riverside, hit out at DCC bosses this week following what he claimed was months of radio silence on the matter. He said residents have been struggling with parking issues for more than a decade.

Mr Pickard added that, in January, the authority announced it would be launching a review and planned to send letters within a month to ask residents whether they felt residents’ parking permits were needed.

“The situation has now become intolerable as some people, when they find a space, leave their vehicles for at least three weeks or more, and I reported two vehicles to the police when one had been parked-up for over four months, and the other for five months,” said Mr Pickard.

County councillor Stuart Hughes, who is responsible for highways management, was contacted by the Herald this week. He said there had been a delay in sending out the consultation letters on residents’ parking because of data protection laws.

Councillor Hughes added that the council discovered that, in order to comply with the laws, they would need to send out another two or three pages of A4 information explaining data protection - costing more than they initially expected.

“I’m pleased to advise that we have now found a way of shortening this additional information,” said Cllr Hughes. He added that the documents were issued to the printers on May 4 and are due to go to the post room on Thursday, May 31.

The consultation will then officially begin on Friday, June 1, and will end on June 22.