Telford father makes plea to drivers after parking woes outside school

Father of one Paul Wheatley has launched a road safety campaign to raise awareness of parking woes near John Fletcher Primary School, in Upper Road, Madeley.

He is also calling on the authorities to take action.

He claims drivers park on the pavement due to the narrow street causing chaos and that emergency service vehicles have difficulty getting access at peak times.

Mr Wheatley, who lives in the street, wants drivers dropping off and collecting youngsters to make use of an offer by nearby Tesco to use its car park to help ease the problems.

John Fletcher primary said it has been working with highways officers on strategies to improve the situation.

"At school times it's very busy along here and because its a narrow road people picking up kids pull up onto the pavement which puts pedestrians at risk.

"Where I live the garden hedges are about 4ft-high and if you have children about the same height or smaller stepping onto the pavement its very difficult for motorists pulling up at the same time to see them.

"Recently my little girl narrowly avoided being struck by a car when she walked out onto the footpath.

"The council and the police have had a meeting about it and they say they are looking into it, but I'm concerned about whether any enforcement can be done.

"The school has told parents in its newsletter to park at the Tesco car park which is a few minutes walk away instead of coming into Upper Road, but its falling on deaf ears.

"Last week I came home to find an ambulance parked in the middle of the road because it couldn't get close to the address of a patient. The person had to be wheeled down the street because there wasn't any room for the ambulance to get closer," the 42 year old said.

Matthew Gould, headteacher at John Fletcher primary, said: "The school is aware that there are issues with parking around the school site and on the neighbouring streets. We do frequently remind parents of the need to park not only legally, but safely and with consideration.

"There is the option of using the Tesco car park and walking to school which parents are reminded about.

"We have been working with highways at Telford & Wrekin Council and they've been out and done surveys of issues and will be coming back to us with some suggestions of how we can improve the situation for parents and local residents."