The mysterious war in one of Britain’s most affluent neighbourhoods: Desperate villagers locked in parking battle with Rolls Royce owner leaving his cars outside their homes… and they’re powerless to stop him

A mysterious Rolls Royce owner has sparked a fierce parking war in one of London’s wealthiest villages after turning a picturesque shopping street into what angry locals are calling his own ‘private showroom’.

Residents and shopkeepers in leafy Dulwich Village claim the man, believed to live miles away in Croydon, effectively colonized the high street by parking four vintage Rolls Royces there for months.

The luxury fleet of a white 1980 Silver Shadow II and a gold 1990 Silver Spur is so notorious that anonymous vigilantes now paste angry notes on windshields, begging the owner to take them away.

One read: ‘Congratulations on owning so many Rolls Royces. But we think you’re confusing Dulwich Village with long-term parking. The people who live, work and shop here don’t like your fancy cars. Please take them home.’

Another directly mocked abandoned cars, saying: ‘Rolls Royce speaks after being left here to rot: “Hello, please help me! I’ve been abandoned. I’m so lonely. My owner dumped me and my friends here months ago.” There will be more than that when we get this. Dulwich Village news.’

A third warned: ‘You’re really annoying everyone in the village by filling up all this space with your cars. Can’t you just park them at your house instead? These notifications will continue to appear on your vehicles until the cars are moved. There are areas for visitors. ‘This is not a car park for long periods of time.’

And the fourth one exploded: ‘Hey buddy, this isn’t your car dealership. There are areas for visitors to Dulwich Village. Please move your cars.’

But despite the growing anger, residents say neither the police nor Southwark Council can do anything because the vehicles are taxed, insured and technically parked legally.

The luxury fleet of a white 1980 Silver Shadow II and a gold 1990 Silver Spur is so infamous that anonymous vigilantes now paste angry notes on windshields, begging the owner to take them away.

It turns out the gold 1990 Silver Spur angered so many residents that anonymous vigilantes posted angry notes on windshields, begging the owner to take it away.

Despite growing anger, residents say neither the police nor Southwark Council can do anything because the cars are taxed, insured and technically parked legally

A third warned: ‘You’re really annoying everyone in the village by filling up all this space with your cars. Can’t you park them at your house instead?’

The row erupted against the backdrop of growing anger over parking restrictions in Dulwich Village, where Southwark Council has introduced new controlled parking areas and double yellow lines as part of wider traffic reduction measures.

Locals say it has already lost dozens of places in the area; This makes the sight of four massive Rolls Royces permanently occupying the main spots all the more unnerving.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘I think this is terrible and very selfish. The area has recently lost 38 parking spaces due to Southwark Council putting double yellow lines everywhere and creating CPZs (controlled parking zones).

‘Now this man, who doesn’t live in this area, takes up four places. They’ve been there for months, barely moving, and originally there were only two (cars) but now there are four.

‘We spoke to Southwark Council and the police but they said they couldn’t do anything as the cars were all taxed and insured.’

The neighbor claimed the owner only moved one of the luxury bikes occasionally and even used another vehicle to ‘guard’ areas while he was away.

‘He (the car owner) occasionally moves cars around and uses another van to save parking space when he’s away – to make sure no one else can park there,’ they said.

The collection reportedly now includes a blue 1987 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit, a gold 1990 Silver Spur, another blue Rolls Royce from 1996, and a white Silver Shadow II from 1980.

Residents claim that vehicles are barely moving; Although they sometimes appear to be covered with tarpaulins, this raises speculation that someone is carefully maintaining the vehicles.

The luxury fleet of a white 1980 Silver Shadow II and a gold 1990 Silver Spur is so infamous that anonymous vigilantes now paste angry notes on windshields, begging the owner to take them away.

The row erupted against the backdrop of growing anger over parking restrictions in Dulwich Village, where Southwark Council has introduced new controlled parking zones

Locals say the area has already lost dozens of places; This makes the sight of four massive Rolls Royces permanently occupying the main spots all the more unnerving

Neighbor claimed owner only moved one of the luxury bikes occasionally and even used another vehicle to ‘guard’ areas while he was away

Karol, who works in a nearby hairdresser, claimed locals believed the owner had once lived in the area and deliberately chose Dulwich Village because of its reputation as one of south London’s safest neighbourhoods.

Katharine, who declined to give her surname, said: ‘With Southwark’s (Council) new regime of lots of new double yellow lines to combat congestion and pollution, and limited parking outside shops, this means his four Rolls Royces are now having an impact on local businesses. Because there is no place for customers to park. That’s all I really care about.”

The increasingly bizarre saga has become a talking point in Dulwich Village, an affluent enclave famous for its multimillion-pound homes, independent boutiques and private schools.

Some locals even started joking about the cars in community WhatsApp groups; one local suggested they should ask to borrow a car for the wedding as the cars still appeared to be in pristine condition.

But traders say the situation is no laughing matter.

Eve Watson, who works at local butcher Proud Sow, said customers were now abandoning shopping trips because they could not find parking.

He said: ‘It’s had a huge impact on our business. Even today, our regular customers, whom we said we had not seen for a long time, were telling us this because they could not park.

‘They come here to look but there’s no space available so they get in their cars to shop elsewhere.’

He added: ‘And their car isn’t even moving! He left them there because it was safe and the cars were safer away from the pavement. It’s very bad for business.

‘I never thought I’d be the type of person to be bothered by this, but now I am. There’s a strong enough economy right now without these things needing to impact the business further. I’m sure we are experiencing losses in trade.’

Eve Watson, who works at local butcher Proud Sow, said customers were now abandoning shopping trips because they could not find parking.

Southwark Council’s own parking rules state that taxed, insured and legally parked vehicles cannot simply be removed from the road.

Another trader, Stuart Harmer, director of Bartleys Flowers Limited, said the fleet was growing steadily.

‘It definitely doesn’t help with parking,’ he said.

‘I don’t know who you are but they’ve been there since November. And now fewer people come to my flower shop.

‘The cars are technically there legally. ‘He obviously looked at a map, checked it was free and safe and said OK.’

He added: ‘It started out as three or two but now it looks like a growing collection.’

Karol, who works in a nearby hairdresser, claimed locals believed the owner had once lived in the area and deliberately chose Dulwich Village because of its reputation as one of South London’s safest neighbourhoods.

He said: ‘He used to live here, then he moved and now he parks here because it’s safe.

‘The cars don’t move at all. This is ridiculous. I think he should be a collector. But you can understand the frustration; These are big cars, they easily take up six spaces.’

Southwark Council’s own parking rules state that taxed, insured and legally parked vehicles cannot simply be removed from the road.

For now, the mysterious owner of the Rolls Royce has not been identified.

But in one of London’s most beautiful villages, the battle over the ghost fleet is quickly turning into a public war.

Southwark Council has been approached for comment.