Chippenham parking blasted by Faresaver for causing delays

Daniel Pickford, the director of the independent Chippenham based bus service Faresaver, has urged road users to leave room for larger vehicles when parking on the street, particularly near schools at peak times.

This comes after one of the firm’s drivers was stuck at a standstill in Queens Crescent, Chippenham, for almost 10 minutes due to parked cars blocking the route.

Mr Pickford believes Chippenham has become a “notorious” problem area for incidents such as these and has been left frustrated at the frequency of delays to services.

He added: “Every day at 3pm the bus on this route has problems negotiating parked cars and it’s unbelievable because they don’t leave enough space for buses let alone emergency services.

“The problem of parking outside of schools during drop-off and pick-up is widespread across the county and across the county.

“Everyone has to deal with it, but you just seem to be beating your head against a brick wall… it’s very frustrating because as an operator we’re dealing with delays on a daily basis.”

Cars parked on Queens Crescent, Chippenham, blocking a bus (Image: Faresaver)

The problem hits Faresaver hardest on one of their key routes, from Chippenham to Bath, when buses travel past three schools, Redland Primary, Frogwell Primary, and Queen’s Crescent School, in quick succession.

This pinch point is one of several around the county, according to Mr Pickford.

He added: “That route is one notorious area we have problems with, Trowbridge can also be quite challenging because of all the secondary schools.

“It’s where you get a concentration of schools in one area, and you get all the traffic hitting at one time.

“Chippenham is an area in particular that does seem to suffer more than most.”

Faresaver has taken to Facebook to appeal for more considerate parking, in a post that has attracted hundreds of interactions.

Mr Pickford backed this plea and emphasised that avoiding these kinds of unexpected delays will allow them to give customers better warning of changes to service.

He said: “We understand that roadworks have to take place, and we can give advanced warning when we anticipate delays to service, but when you get badly parked vehicles you can’t.

“People don’t know what’s going on and neither do we, that’s the most frustrating aspect of it and it’s unnecessary on top of what is already a testing environment.

“Please park considerately and ensure you allow enough room for other road users.”