London residents have blocked council workers from implementing a controversial £650,000 street renovation plan on Amesbury Avenue in Streatham.
Local residents and business owners are opposing the scheme which would replace parking spaces with seating and planters.
They fear the changes will harm local shops and increase antisocial behaviour in the area.
On Monday, locals sealed off the road with fake crime scene tape to prevent Lambeth Council employees from starting work on the project.
South Londoners have blocked council workers from implementing a controversial £650,000 street renovation plan on Amesbury Avenue in Streatham
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This was the second time in a month residents have blocked council employees from accessing Amesbury Avenue.
Residents and business owners fear that removing parking spaces will devastate local shops by making it difficult for customers to access them.
They are also worried that the new seating areas, known as "parklets", will attract antisocial behaviour despite there being a park just two streets away.
Berhe Tsegay, who runs a launderette on the street, expressed serious concerns about the plans.
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Locals sealed off the road with fake crime scene tape to prevent Lambeth Council employees from starting work on the project
Google Street View
"If this project goes ahead, my business will be completely destroyed. We have customers from the local community.
"How are they going to carry their items if there's no parking for vehicles?" he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Tony McDermott, a 40-year resident, claimed locals had tried to raise concerns but were ignored.
"This is going to cost £650,000. It's a lot of money to spend especially when Lambeth Council are supposed to be skint," he said.
Petra Kjell Wright, another resident, disputed the council's claims that the plans were created with locals' input.
"It has been sold as a scheme that will work for local businesses, but what the local businesses are saying is [that] with Lambeth's proposal they will lose trade," she said.
She added that businesses fear they won't survive the changes.
Local residents and business owners are opposing the scheme which would replace parking spaces with seating and planters
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"We have tried to come up with a solution that would work better for the area. It would tick lots of Lambeth boxes as well. We want to work with the council," she stated.
Lambeth Council defended the project, saying it would turn the "neglected shopping parade" into a "better place to spend time and do business."
A council spokesperson said: "Local people are rightly passionate about their neighbourhoods and we have held many discussions about this improvement project."
They insisted there had been extensive community engagement over five years.
"There has been a huge amount of work completed to engage the community in the design [of] the scheme and we are confident that a positive outcome that delivers for the local area will be the end result."
