St John’s school principal Patrick Hazlewood has asked Marlborough Town Council to set aside free parking for sixth form students in town in a bid to combat traffic problems around the school.

In a letter to the town council, Dr Hazlewood has suggested around 30 parking places be made available to students in the George Lane car park so they can park there rather than residential roads near the school.

This follows complaints from residents in Orchard Road who said students regularly block their road.

Dr Hazlewood said: “If we go back in time to when the new school was built, what was Kennet District Council specified 175 parking places and we regularly exceed this with staff and visitors so there is no parking at the school for students.

“The students park as close to school as possible and there are no parking restrictions.

“I wrote to the town council because this problem is almost impossible to solve but if there were a few free spaces set aside in the George Lane car park we would have an alternative that would strengthen our hand when directing the students.

“If we direct students to the George Lane car park they won’t go because they have to pay.”

A spokesman for Marlborough Town Council said: “The council is aware of concerns around parking at Cherry Orchard.

“Councillors at our planning committee discussed the issue at a meeting on November 18 and felt the best way forward was to arrange a meeting with St John’s School and all interested parties to look at solutions. “Wiltshire Council is responsible for parking at the George Lane Car Park rather than the town council and it will be important for it to be involved in these discussions. However, the town council is able to influence parking restrictions and this is something that that we will be talking about with Dr Hazelwood and local residents.”