A MAN says he will go to jail rather than pay fines for parking outside his own home.

George Moore has run up a debt of £3,000 to Dorset County Council for leaving his car in Bell Street, Shaftesbury.

But father-of-three Mr Moore says there should be a resident parking scheme and that he has been lobbying for one for more than two years.

"They see this as the richer end of Dorset and they make so much revenue out of it, they don't want to give it up," he said.

House husband Mr Moore does the school run while his partner Emma James works.

With children at three different schools, he says a car is essential and the prevailing chaos in Shaftesbury during the construction of the new Tesco has made life infinitely worse.

"For years we were going through the process, we were advised to write letters and I was told to do a petition," he said.

"At the end they said there was nothing more we could do - I have just been fobbed off.

"They have given our free car park to the supermarket and failed to inform us so I'm refusing to pay.

"I'm willing to go to prison as a protest - this is crazy.

"As you come back and drop off the children, before you get a chance to park the car they have given you another ticket. It's a nightmare.

"We can't afford to pay them even if we wanted to."

Dorset County Council highways spokesman Tony Mackle said his staff were struggling to cope with requests for resident parking schemes.

In March Shaftesbury Town Council decided to defer the problem until the supermarket was built, he said.

"Without their backing we can't do anything," he said.

"We don't fob people off, we do our very best to keep everybody happy but, obviously, there are conflicting interests."

First published: Sept 24