NEW parking bays painted outside a car repair garage have been branded a “joke” by the business owner who says they are losing him money.

The two parking bays were painted directly outside the entrance to BJ Autos, in Margaret Road, Headington, by Oxfordshire County Council.

The business’s 29-year-old co-owner Fayzan Qureshi said this has led to cars using both spaces and blocking the entrance to his garage for up to three hours at a time.

He told the Oxford Mail since the lines were painted his business has had to turn down two MOT’s, costing him more than £100.

A spokesman for the council said the bays have always been available for parking, but were previously ignored because the lines had faded.

Mr Qureshi, from Cowley, said: “They have just painted the lines right in front of the garage.

“If we have got a car in for an MOT we can’t do it because if someone parks in the bay in front of the workshop we can’t get them in.

“We have to tell customers to leave the cars with us and we say we will do it later or we say we will have to do it another time.

“So far customers have been fairly understanding, but two customers said they will come back and they have not.

“It is really concerning because when we book in an MOT, that MOT is dependent on a car not being parked outside. The other week we had someone park there for three hours and we said ‘well you can, but it loses us business’.

“The only alternative would be to park our own car in the bay and move it around.

“When councillor Dee Sinclair came to look at it she thought it was a late April Fool's joke.”

Cllr Sinclair said she visited the garage following complaints and has written to Oxfordshire County Council, with no response.

She added: “They have painted parking bays across the access point to the garage stopping any business.”

A county council spokesman said: “The parking bays outside BJ Autos were initially created around 10 years ago as part of the Headington Central controlled parking zone.

“They were installed in consultation with the business, on the basis that customers dropping off vehicles could use them for up to three hours without requiring a permit, and that staff at the garage had access to their customers’ car keys. Access markings outside the garage entrance were also introduced to discourage any non-customer parking during business hours.

“The parking bay markings were recently repainted after becoming badly faded.

"The council has been in contact with staff at BJ Autos to discuss their concerns and has arranged for the accompanying access markings to be refreshed, which will hopefully resolve the issue.”