A FURIOUS resident bought a Range Rover to stop rogue parking outside his house.

Andrew Dixon is one of a dozen residents in Mallory Road and Onslow Road, Hove, who have resorted to desperate measures to stop commuters and holidaymakers from using their parking spots.

The 66-year-old said: “People park their cars outside my house for weeks on end and block the light. That is why I bought a Range Rover to preserve my space and keep them away from my house.

“When confronted they can be aggressive so we avoid the conflict.”

The chartered surveyor, who has lived in the road since 1982, described the situation as a “car war zone”.

In the ongoing battle Mr Dixon says some of the vehicles are left for months, while residents have started using bins, traffic cones and “defensive parking” to keep their spots.

Mr Dixon bought his Range Rover to preserve his parking space, although he sometimes uses it for clay pigeon shooting.

The battle is similar to the nearby Surrenden Road parking row where vandals sprayed rude graffiti over vans left unattended in the street.

A mystery vigilante tried to stop drivers returning to the area by daubing offensive words and phrases over the vehicles,

Like Surrenden Road, Mallory Road and Onslow Road are not in controlled parking zones. Residents say people are using their spaces to park cars when going to work, leave cars when jetting off on holiday and dump cars when they are no longer needed.

Mr Dixon, who said the problem has been getting gradually worse over the years, added: “They’re parking their cars outside my house, getting out their suitcases and jetting off to Malaga.

“We’re old middle class people who are not into spray painting vans.

“We park our vehicles in the most inconvenient spots to deter others.

“We also guard our spaces with bins, but apparently that’s illegal.”

Mr Dixon has been demanding better parking measures in a series of letters to Brighton and Hove City Council dating back to 2009.

Earlier this month, the council wrote a letter telling residents not to leave parking cones outside their houses.

The council reminded them it was a criminal offence.