Police in Shropshire keeping the peace over daily school run parking chaos
Parking on pavements, across driveways and across roundabouts – welcome to the school run in Shropshire.
Now the situation has got so chaotic that police patrols are being brought in to keep the peace.
One of the latest patrols took place outside Market Drayton Infant and Nursery School, where chaos descends twice a day.
Three people were caught parking inappropriately – two of which were given warnings and one a ticket that could result in a fine, driver awareness course, or even a court appearance.
The patrol was carried out by Pc Mick Sturland, of the Market Drayton safer neighbourhood team, who has been monitoring parking at schools in the area.
He said: "There are issues at nearly every school. Our hands are tied to a certain extent so it is important to educate people to change their behaviour.
"There are nine schools in this area and 50 or 60 per cent report problems. We can't do patrols every day because we simply don't have the manpower.
"Often people are running late, especially those who have got to go to work afterwards. I have got a couple of kids myself and it is all about time management so you don't have to rush about.
"Weather is a factor – if it is raining people obviously just want to park as close to the school as possible."
Pc Sturland, who has issued several tickets to people in the last few weeks, said how they react to being spoken to often sways how he deals with them.
"We can issue a ticket, report the offender, and they can either be given a fine, asked to do a driver awareness course, or even be asked to attend court if they are a repeat offender," he said.
"I have been in this job a while now and I often do the attitude test. If people are apologetic and I can see they are genuinely sorry for what they have done I am more likely to just give them advice.
"One of the frustrations for us is that people know what they have done wrong. As soon as you start speaking to them they will often say they know they shouldn't be doing it, or they know why they have been stopped."
While two of the people stopped outside Market Drayton Infant and Nursery School seemed to take his advice on board, one man who parked on the mini roundabout refused to accept a ticket, or move his car when asked to.
Pc Sturland said police have been working with schools, which often warn people about the dangers of inappropriate parking in newsletters.
"The feeling of schools is of frustration but they fully support and appreciate what we are doing," he said.
Shropshire Council said parking outside schools is a problem countywide and, where possible, it liaises with the police where there are specific issues.
Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "Where there are existing yellow line parking restrictions in place outside a school then these can be enforced by our parking wardens, although this will obviously be subject to available resources.
"If there are no parking restrictions in place and parents are parking in inappropriate locations, then the police can offer suitable advice to parents.
"School Keep Clear zig zag markings are advisory only, unless accompanied with an upright 'no stopping' sign.
"If there are specific issues with parents parking on the zig zag markings at a particular location, and the markings are to the correct standards, then we can consider the provision of upright signage, subject to available resources/funding.
"It is parents' responsibility to park in a safe and appropriate manner."
Market Drayton Junior School, Hodnet Primary School and Norton-in-Hales Primary School are among the other schools in the area where concerns are regularly raised.
Dave Gradwell, Shropshire Council area traffic engineer, said: "Market Drayton Junior School, Hodnet Primary School and Norton-in-Hales Primary School all currently have school zig zag markings in place.
"Following specific complaints about the parking outside Market Drayton Junior School, we are currently considering the introduction of some additional yellow line parking restrictions in the vicinity of the school. We suggest parents should keep clear of zig zag markings, do not park where it will cause visibility problems at junctions, and do not park where it is going to cause obstruction/access problems."
