Disgruntled residents have called on Haringey Council to stop its employees from using their streets as a “council car park”.

Cranbrook Park Residents Association (CPRA) has written to the council complaining that it is becoming “impossible” for locals to park in four streets in Wood Green because its employees leave their cars there all day – and often well into the evening.

The complaint comes shortly after a separate group of residents accused council and Homes for Haringey workers of misusing permits to park in their streets.

According to the CPRA, most of the offending vehicles display the essential service permit (ESP), which allows people providing services such as healthcare and counselling to park in a controlled parking zone.

These are only issued to people who provide essential services to residents and are required to work extended, unsociable hours or are on 24-hour call out.

In addition, it claimed several cars display the companion badge, which is issued to disabled drivers, and the any vehicle permit.

The affected streets are Cranbrook Park, St Albans Crescent, Gathorne Road and Berners Road.

The residents’ association’s letter to the council states: “Clearly staff are misusing their permits simply to do the daily commute to the office and back.

“It is no longer acceptable to us that our area has effectively become a ‘council car park’ and not simply during the day even, since some permits are valid up to 8pm, 9pm or even 10pm. And the number of cars is growing.”

ESPs are banned on several nearby streets on the left of the High Road, including Cumberland Road, Ringslade Road and Warberry Road.

But the CPRA claimed this had merely made the problem on their streets worse and wants the council to extend the ban to the right of the High Road.

It suggested the council rent parking spaces from a local store and finance the move using revenue from traffic fines.

The residents’ association added that council officers should be encouraged to use public transport whenever possible, in keeping with Haringey’s Greenest Borough Strategy.

A Haringey Council spokeswoman said: “We understand that residents want to be able to park close to their homes and we are looking into the issues raised.

“We have reminded all council and Homes for Haringey staff terms of the terms of their permits, including that they must only be used to assist delivery of services for residents, to ensure they are being used properly.

“We’ve also reminded staff that they should be mindful of local residents whenever parking in the borough.”