BY EMILY ROGERS

A butcher is warning that Northfields will die if a controversial controlled parking zone is extended to the area.

Paul Thorogood, 57, who has run Thorogood Butchers in Northfield Avenue for 18 years, claims a new CPZ scheme proposed in the roads around Lammas Park will force business out of the area as staff will no longer be able to drive to work.

He said he had conducted a survey among staff of 180 shops in Northfield Avenue showing that nearly 700 of the staff in the parade, many of whom come to work from outside the borough in the early hours of the morning, were dependent on their cars. In a controlled parking zone, parking permits are only available for residents ,, at an annual cost of £25 ,, and for vehicles deemed essential for business at £250, but this does not include staff cars. Under the scheme, staff working in the parade of shops would be classified as commuters and forbidden parking.

Residents at the Ealing Area Committee last month applauded Mr Thorogood when he said: 'These cars should be given permits to come to work and if they don't get them at the same price as residents' permits, then it's discrimination against small businesses.

'If you closed the town hall car park, how many of its staff would come to work?

'We've got nearly 700 people coming to work to keep Northfields alive, and if they can't come to work, we're going to kill Northfields.'

He added his business had been pushed out of Hanwell 18 years ago after a new one-way system transformed it from a lively shopping centre into a thoroughfare. 'The one-way system crucified Hanwell and the same thing is going to happen to Northfields with this controlled parking.'

Mr Thorogood spoke as councillors were asked to approve consultation documents for proposed controlled parking zones around Lammas Park in Northfields and Almond Avenue in South Ealing.

The council claims this will help to regulate parking congestion caused by CPZs already introduced around Northfields and South Ealing Tube stations.

Councillor Ian Green, chairman of the committee, said: 'It's up to us to determine what form of consultation the area will get.

'Businesses will be properly consulted to make sure they will be given as much say as residents.'

The committee agreed to set up a working group to revise the questionnaires in more detail by mid-September and consultation is expected to take place throughout the whole of next month. Consultation results are scheduled to go before a December meeting of Ealing Area Committee and the council plans to implement any zones which are approved in Spring next year.