Schools tackle parking problem by reporting registration numbers

Sandhills Community Primary School in Oxford and Bletchingdon Parochial Primary School near Kidlington have adopted the approach, to identify parents who park inconsiderately during peak drop-off and pick-up times.

Parking is an issue that persistently crops up in school newsletters across the county, with headteachers pleading with parents not to block residents' driveways, park on pavements or ignore zig-zag lines.

A newsletter sent by the latter school this month said: "We have had complaints from residents of Springwell Close about members of the school community parking in the residents’ spaces.

"Please park carefully and not in the close when dropping off and collecting. Car registration numbers have been given to school."

A follow-up newsletter said residents had filed 'complaint forms' about drivers who block their spaces, and the approach appeared to have worked as a deterrent.

The letter added: "Thank you for parking more considerately - the angry phone calls have stopped."

Sandhills school sent a similar plea the week before last, noting that poor parking is 'an issue shared by all schools.'

It said: "What is worrying all of us, parents, staff, children and local residents, is the speed at which some drivers are weaving between the parked cars.

"This sort of driving can’t be pinned down just to parents collecting and dropping off, as it is a public road, but it is our children who are vulnerable.

"Please do take registration numbers and complain to the police (on the non-emergency number) as they will take registration numbers and follow up if appropriate."

Earlier this month we reported how police officers had pledged to 'make a visual assessment' of parking issues outside primary schools in Kidlington, while police in West Oxfordshire also said they would be carrying out school parking patrols.

Commenting on the articles, readers mentioned more than a dozen schools where parking was a particular problem.

One said of Garsington CE Primary School near Oxford: "Two children in the last month have had a near miss outside of the school during drop off and pick up.

"Luckily both children were unharmed but it could have very easily resulted in a serious injury.

"Cars travel at speed in the village - it's only a matter of time before an accident happens."

Another wrote of St Ebbe's CE Primary School in South Oxford: "People park all over driveways, on pavements and yellow lines which makes it unsafe for parents with prams, kids walking and on bikes and commuters on bikes.

"They reverse into traffic, do three-point turns and sit in the cars with the engine on.

"They are always rude when asked to obey the traffic rules or to turn off their cars to help with air pollution, and disregard all communications from the school and nursery about safe parking."

One called for parents to be fined £100 or given points on their licence for flouting the rules.

Another reader complained about 'dangerous' parking outside Thameside Primary School in Abingdon, and said her son was involved in a near-miss.

She said drivers park on the pavement on a bend, adding: "This blocks visibility and you are half way out in the road before you can see. It's so incredibly dangerous, but everyone is desperate to park as close as they possibly can to the school.

"My son was nearly ran over by a woman reversing down the path."

The mother said parents suddenly start parking properly when police community support officers are on patrol.

She added: "What needs to happen is for police to go down in plain clothes, so they can see just how bad it is.

"It would also help if the council would put double yellow lines or bollards on the edge of the path, so the cars can't park there."

Another reader, commenting on our website, highlighted similar issues at nearby Dunmore Primary School.

They said there was 'total chaos on a regular basis' and 'minor gridlock' as parents park in a residential cul-de-sac nearby.

Thames Valley Police's guidance advises that it is illegal to park near a school entrance, and that anyone who sees such parking should report it to the council to enforce.

It adds that if a driver has parked on zig-zag lines, dangerously, or in a manner that would block emergency vehicle access, these instances should instead be reported as a police matter.