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Irish Mirror
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birminghamlive & Anita McSorley

Man turns garden into €23,000 car park for nurses and doctors - for €6 per day

A man living opposite a hospital has turned the driveway of his house into a car park.

Akeel Ahmed says he had the "lightbulb moment" when he was clearing his garden and a stranger asked if they could park their car.

The 33-year-old landlord spent around £20,000 (€23,000) on the land outside his house in Birmingham, turning it into an 18-space car park.

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For £5 (€6) people can park all day, which is a saving on the £10.20 (€12) demanded by Heartlands Hospital for a 24-hour stay.

All customers have to do is drop the cash through the letterbox and continue on with their day, Birmingham Live reports.

The idea came to Akeel last October when a driver visiting the hospital asked if he could park on his drive and handed him £5 (€6) "for his trouble".

This inspired him to pave the drive and to mark out 18 spots, with plans to extend to 20. There is also motion-triggered CCTV.

Akeel, who lets out the property, says business had so far been light.

However, he said his main customers were nurses and some had split the cost of a space with a colleague so it cost them just £2.50 (€3) a day.

Akeel Ahmed, 33 is renting out car parking space on a property he owns for just €6 per space (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live/BPM Media)

Akeel, who grew up in the house, said: "A guy came here while I was clearing the garden and asked if he could park - that was the lightbulb moment.

"I sorted the whole place which cost £20,000 (€23,000). That included the dig, materials and labour. It took about three weeks because I wanted it in a way you go in and go out.

"There will be 20 bays at a push, at the moment it is 18. It's a work in progress.

"The first few months were quiet but over the last six weeks it has picked up. It's mainly hospital users, patients and staff. I've have had a few nurses park up.

"The nurses in particular can't get permits to park up (at the hospital). Here, £5 (€6) is nothing. And it's secure, every time a car goes in, I know about it.

"I get four or five cars a day, some days I get none. Weekends I can get none. If all 20 bays are full, it will be £100 (€120) a day but at the moment it's more like £10 (€12).

"I also offer for nurses to split their bay with another colleague so it's £2.50 (€3) a day - it's as cheap as chips.

Akeel Ahmed, 33 is renting out car parking space on a property he owns for just €6 per space (Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live/BPM Media)

"I'm on the JustPark app and a lady left her car here for a month for £58 (€70). It's good for the airport.

"Everyone who has approached me says it's brilliant. It's right opposite the hospital, on the dual carriageway, it's convenient and I'm making use of the land.

"I think it's going to be worth it. I'm making the area nicer as it was very overgrown. I contacted the council and they saw it as a positive."

The dad-of-three also has his eyes on the school run market with £2 (€2.40) offers for drop-off and pick-up slots on weekdays. No parents have yet taken advantage of the £2 (€2.40) school run offer, he conceded.

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