For almost a decade, Lynda Ammar has seen damage done to the wall of her home in White Horse Square and to other property in the street.

She spoke out about the problems at last week's Steyning Parish Council meeting.

Mrs Ammar, 62, said she had even stopped having the damage repaired because of the frequency of incidents.

Speaking to the Herald last week, she said: "I've not bothered to have it rebuilt because I couldn't afford it any more. We put the plants in and let them grow over.

"It has been going on for nine years. It is unacceptable."

Mrs Ammar said the problem had reached a head a little more than two years ago, when an ambulance was called for her dying mother, but could not get near to the house.

She said: "When my mother needed the ambulance, they had to carry her right round the corner on a cold January night. She was so, so humiliated – and very upset.

"That was something I do not think anybody should have to put up with when one is just short of 90 years old. I was just so furious. The following day, when I got the phone call to say she had passed away, it was just the limit."

Mrs Ammar said the congestion problem was compounded by delivery lorries driving along Charlton Street to White Horse Square, coupled with cars parked in the narrow street, and that a one-way system and better parking control would ease the problem.

Others clearly feel the same. A closer look at double-yellow lines in the road reveals an unofficial stretch of the no-parking measure, which last week appeared to have been painted over with genuine lines.

Mrs Ammar said if left unaddressed, the problem would get only worse, with new housing developments planned for Charlton Street.

At their meeting last week, Steyning's parish councillors said they sympathised with Mrs Ammar's plight, but the issue was one for West Sussex County Council, responsible for the town's highways.

Parish councillor Sue Rogers told Mrs Ammar: "I really sympathise with everything you said. I think there are a lot of improvements that could be made."

A spokesman for the county council said: "There is to be a formal consultation in the very near future about possible amendments to the waiting restrictions in the Charlton Street area, which may well address the problems this lady has been experiencing. There will be every opportunity for residents, the parish and district council to comment on these."