The invasion of the Daleks in Harrow continues afoot with people fleeing the streets as buildings and shops are increasingly closed and shuttered.

Because of the ‘vicious cuts’, Cllr David Perry and the Labour RoboMen are filling our shopping centres and parades with an expanding army of extremely expensive parking machine Daleks.

Almost overnight, the invasion has spread to Belmont, Stanmore, Canons Park and other areas where the very sight of the machines turns away people — exterminating custom, spaces deserted, the 20minute free is therefore an irrelevance, more so if it is raining.

Mind you, at least shoppers can get 20 minutes’ free parking. Not so residents in Kenton East, who get hammered from 6am to midnight outside their own homes — no visitors, no carers, no tradesmen, no one without a paid permit, not even a funeral — parking controls enforced with rigour and no discretion by the Cybermen and civic centre functionaries.

The results are there for all to see; shops closing, jobs at risk and a town centre that at times resembles the windswept landscape following the War of the Worlds; the CCTV ‘Martians’ ignoring street crime while allying with the Cybermen by nicking even more motorists.

Welcome to Harrow, but only if you pay...

But joy of joys, the council is now recruiting a team, presumably using money we don’t have, because of the ‘cuts’, to help ‘regenerate’ the town centre. This should be interesting.

Bets are now being taken that this will not include encouraging trade by cutting parking charges, but will include lots of expensive ‘green’ junk, arty-farty municipal eyesores and unsustainable political hobby-horses paid for forever by the taxpayer while the shops keep on closing and businesses move out.

And what is it with the new Conservative idiots in government, who instead of coming up with a credible plan to encourage councils to help business and therefore encourage custom and employment, are ‘getting tough’ by giving councils yet more powers to issue fines and penalties, to regulate and hassle people?

What we really need is for Doctor Who and his sonic screwdriver to tighten up the loose screws in the civic centre and Parliament, assuming they don’t ticket and clamp the Tardis first.

Jeremy Zeid

Brampton Grove, Kenton