Not only has he had to deal with people driving off without paying for fuel in the pre-Christmas rush, people have also been using the 10-minute parking reserved for his customers – sometimes for hours on end as they shop in the CBD.

Mr Wadhwa, the owner of the United service station at the end of William Street, said he was losing business because people who don’t shop at his store use his car parking and then take their business to nearby shops.

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“All of my usual customers see the car park is full, so they keep going,” Mr Wadhwa said.

“And it’s not only my regular customers. Travellers driving through aren’t stopping here either because they look up and the car park is full.

“I’m losing so much business.

“I’m the first petrol station on the left hand side of the street but if people see there are no car parks there they just keep going on to the next service station.”

Mr Wadhwa said the parking spaces outside his business were for his customers.

“People [not supporting his business]  might only be parking there for five minutes, but I can lose five customers in five minutes. My customers need somewhere to park,” he said.

Adding to an already difficult situation for the business are people who are driving off without paying for their fuel.

Mr Wadhwa said people need to be able to pay for their fuel.

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He said police were called when people drove off without paying, but he said it was a long process for police, and him as the business owner to recover costs.

“If it ends up in court, I have to take half a day off work, just to recover $40 in fuel. It’s very frustrating.”

Even with CCTV, he said it was a long process.

“It’s a waste of time for police. They can spend up to five or six hours chasing the person,” he said, adding on-the-spot fines were needed as a deterrent.