The Island’s longest-operating garage has come under fire from neighbours concerned about cars parked on the streets.Residents have complained that mosquitoes are drawn to rainwater collected in vehicles outside Cardoza’s Garage.They also worried that the cars would prevent ambulances and larger vehicles from travelling along Mission Road in Paget if called.Gloria Carter, whose elderly mother lives near the garage, said the growth of the business has led to numerous problems for those who live in the area.“When Cardoza ran the place originally it was a Saturday, Sunday business. He would [only] work on a couple of cars.”Since the business was taken over by Mark Sousa in 1984 it has “just blown up”, she said.“He rented a government lot with the intention of using it to park customers’ cars, but it’s become a scrap heap. It’s filled with junkers.“And because there is no space for the customers’ cars, they park them on the side of the road which means a fire truck can’t get access to the house.“If there is a fire, they would have to go out there and move all the cars. By the time the fire truck got here, there wouldn’t be a house left.”Ms Carter said she complained to Government, who painted a yellow line down the centre of what it described as “a public road”.According to Ms Carter, Mr Sousa covered the line with black paint.“I like Mark, but he doesn’t seem to think much about other people. It’s like he’s decided to run his own dictatorship,” she said.When contacted, Mr Sousa said the road was his to do with as he liked.He said that larger vehicles can and do pass by it but deeds prove the stretch outside the garage belonged to him.“The only way this is public is if they have bought it, and I haven’t seen anything to suggest that is the case,” he said. “I have asked for it. I mean, if I’m wrong, I’m wrong, but they haven’t shown me anything.“Even the sign on the main road says this street is private.”Mr Sousa insisted he has been a good neighbour, helping neighbours run errands and watching out for criminal activity in the area.The businessman admitted there was a brief period when mosquitoes were drawn to collecting water but that problem had since been remedied.He described the incident as “one mistake in 40 years”.He said the neighbours real concern is the value of their homes. The property owned by Ms Carter and her mother is currently for sale, and several nearby homes have had major renovations in recent years.“[Ms Carter] wants to get her $1.7 million. That’s what she wants,” he said. “It’s all about money. They think they can get more for the house if the garage is gone.“Some people move here and then, three years later, they realise they don’t want to live next to a garage and they complain, but the garage was here before their houses were built.”Cardoza’s first opened as a garage in 1946, and has operated continually since then.A Government spokesman said that various government agencies were aware of area residents’ concerns.“The Highways Section within the Ministry of Public Works did, in fact, paint a yellow line in the middle of Mission Road as well as along the road edge to restrict parking,” the spokesman said.“It is believed that a neighbouring property owner and business operator may have painted over said lines in a claim that the road in question sits on his property.“As can be confirmed by the Land Title Registry Office within the Ministry of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy, Mission Road is in fact a public road.”Mr Sousa maintained that the stretch of road outside his business is private. He insisted his deed to the land clearly shows that the road is included in with the property.He said that met with Permanent Secretary for the Government Estates Ministry Robert Horton within the past week and explained his case.“I think he was impressed with the amount of research I have put in on this,” he said. “I have three separate deeds, one going back to 1946. If Government did buy it, there has to be a record.”