Haringey Council is investigating claims that staff have been misusing parking permits so they can leave their cars on residential streets close to their offices.

People living near to the Civic Centre have complained that council staff and employees of nearby Homes for Haringey regularly park outside their homes – even though, in some cases, the terms of the permits they use forbid them from doing so.

As a result, residents are finding it hard to find parking spaces, while builders and other workers visiting their homes find it difficult to gain access.

The allegations relate to three types of parking permit – borough-wide, essential service and visitors.

Wayne Libonati, who lives on Ringslade Road, said: “They are called borough-wide permits, but they are parked Monday to Friday here every day. They are being used in residents’ parking bays. Residents can’t park, and builders can’t park near you.

“We are directly behind the council offices. They are using them to have easy parking access to work.”

Borough-wide permits can be issued to staff at businesses inside the controlled parking zone (CPZ) if parking inside the CPZ is essential to the successful operation of their firm.

Residents have also claimed essential service permits are being displayed on roads where their use is prohibited.

Essential service permits allow people providing public personal services to residents – such as council employees – to park in a residential or shared-use bay within a CPZ.

But residents say they are being used on Ringslade Road, Cumberland Road and Warberry Road – even though their use on these streets is not permitted.

Visitor permits are only issued to residents so that people visiting them can park in the CPZ, meaning any use for employment purposes would be illegal.

Mr Libonati added: “We have spoken to the council and they are fobbing us off. They have been looking into it for three or four months.

“For residents, permit prices have gone up. They are coming in in the morning, and it is the same cars every day. I think a lot of people started complaining about it, but at the moment we are not getting anywhere.”

A spokeswoman for Haringey Council said: “We are investigating the issues raised by the resident. We have reminded council and Homes for Haringey staff of the terms of the permits to ensure that they are being used properly.”