A MOTORCYCLING family from Stretham say drivers, including the disabled, are using their spaces in Ely, forcing them to leave their bikes parked partially on the pavements. Yvonne Rutterford, who travels on the back of her husband s Bandit 600cc bike, sai

A MOTORCYCLING family from Stretham say drivers, including the disabled, are using their spaces in Ely, forcing them to leave their bikes parked partially on the pavements.

Yvonne Rutterford, who travels on the back of her husband's Bandit 600cc bike, said: "It doesn't matter which day of the week or time of the day you ride into the city, there are never free spaces.

"There are only a few motorcycle bays but there would be enough if drivers were considerate and parked properly and followed the rules. We aren't allowed to park our bikes in the car bays and in the same way they shouldn't park in ours. If everyone followed the rules it would be fine."

Yvonne added that her son and his friend, who ride small 50cc mopeds, were even unable to park their bikes in the run-up to Christmas in the bays provided in the Waitrose car park, the High Street and the Paradise Centre car park.

She added: "Sometimes, if there is a car parked in the bay, we can just manage to get a bike alongside, but often it means putting part of the bike on the pavement and then people complain."

Now Yvonne has taken her complaint to Ely police.

A spokesman said: "We would always prosecute anyone illegally parked in the motorcycle bay in the High Street. The bays in the Waitrose car park and the Paradise Centre car park are council controlled and the council is the prosecuting authority."

East Cambridgeshire District Council team leader town centres, Alison Callaby, said: "The council provides a number of spaces especially for motorcycles in Ely's car parks and our Town Centre Rangers have the ability to issue penalty charge notices to any cars parked in bays allocated for motorbikes.

"The motorcycle spaces have been specifically designed to prevent cars from parking in them, either by virtue of their dimensions or by the provision of physical barriers including bollards.

"In addition to the existing spaces, we are currently looking into providing structures which you can chain your motorbike to and would welcome any suggestions from motorcyclists about the best place to locate them.