Free parking for a parade of shops on Langley High Street has not been available for years, Slough Borough Council has claimed – after businesses asked for it to be restated.

Langley Plumbing owner Amandeep Singh launched an e-petition asking the council to introduce 30 minutes free parking outside a row of shops opposite Langley Memorial Ground.

He said Slough Borough Council had recently installed residents’ only parking signs – affecting businesses. Mr Singh told the Observer: “There are at least eight or nine shops here with 40 people employed and it’s hurting us every day.

“Nobody can park here, and if people get a ticket they’re much less likely to come back and shop with us again.”

He added: “People can shop at Harrow Market car park, which is maybe five or six minutes’ walk. But with the Indian grocery and our shop, people are mostly coming for heavy items like flower or rice bags.

“A lot of people are elderly and can’t carry those huge bags with them or look after the kids at the same time.”

Mr Singh launched his petition on the Change.org website on August 5 and 275 people had signed it by Tuesday August 27.

But a Slough Borough Council spokesperson said parking had been restricted outside those shops ‘for a few years’. They added that the confusion may have come as new no parking signs were installed after previous ones were vandalised.

The spokesperson said: “There has not been any free parking there for a few years but it is a loading bay. The signs had been removed and vandalised hence why there is confusion as new signs and lines have been implemented.”