FURIOUS motorists found their cars being towed away as part of a blitz to clear the streets of Leith for visitors to the International Festival of the Sea.
Dozens of drivers dashed for their cars as council workers and the dreaded parking Enforcers descended on the streets around the port area as the festival got underway yesterday.
Hotel staff woke guests at 7am as they saw the Enforcers moving in
with cones to mark streets in Leith Links out of bounds.
And residents found their cars towed away unless they were lucky enough to reach them in time.
Those that did were told to find a parking space on the busy back streets behind their homes or pay £6 a day to leave their vehicles in a temporary car park on the Links.
The council insisted the move was necessary to stop traffic in the area becoming gridlocked as tens of thousands of visitors come to the festival, which is being held on Western Harbour in Leith until Monday.
The event, which includes displays by historic Tall Ships and the Royal Navy, as well as street theatre, live music and heritage exhibits, is expected to attract 125,000 visitors and generate £10 million for the local economy. But angry residents and hoteliers hit out at the disruption and claimed they had been caught unaware by the early morning blitz.
Staff at the McNair Hotel on Links Gardens woke their guests and warned them to move their cars after spotting council workers putting traffic cones along both sides of the residential street at 7am.
They rushed to the street and managed to move their cars before any further action was taken.
But within two hours council lorries had started towing cars from the road as the Enforcers issued vehicles with warning tickets.
William McMillan, assistant manager of the McNair, said: "It was only when we saw the cones being put down that we felt it necessary to wake up the guests.
"How can you run a business when your clients can’t even park outside the front door? It’s criminal.
"You can bet that it will still happen when the MTV awards come here as well."
The council said warning notices had been posted in the street and letters sent to residents. But many people who saw the signs believed they would apply to only one side of the road.
Andrew Skeen, 35, of Links Gardens, returned home from a job interview to find his car had vanished. "They couldn’t even tell me where it is," he said. "I phoned the police and asked the council staff who were towing cars along the street, but no-one knew whether it had been impounded or just moved."
Mr Skeen branded the action "crazy" and said he was going to miss another interview because he could not find his car.
Other local people argued that it was not only motorists who were being short-changed.
Agnes Lamond, from Links Gardens, complained that the park-and-ride scheme on the links would badly damage a valuable community facility.
She said: "What is going to happen to the public land where the temporary car park is being put? It is for recreational use, and if thousands of cars churn up the wet soil, who will foot the bill to repair it?
"There are youngsters who play Sunday football matches there, so they may end up having their pitches ruined forever. It’s disgraceful. We are being treated with contempt."
However, Edinburgh City Council was quick to stand by its decision to restrict parking around the Leith Links.
A spokeswoman said that the measures had been taken to ease traffic congestion during the Festival of the Sea and that no residents were being charged penalties for having their vehicles moved.
She said: "These are only temporary measures, but we apologise for any inconvenience and are trying not to move cars too far from where we found them.
"We sent letters to around 10,000 households and have put up signs detailing the parking restrictions.
"With all the extra visitors due in Leith this weekend, we can’t afford to have the main road gridlocked."
