Parking hazard plea

3:45pm Thursday 14th August 2008

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Corsham firefighters have had to abandon their engine and run to the scene of a blaze because of drivers who park on both sides of a narrow road.

Now they are asking people to park more thoughtfully in Station Road as they say lives could be put at risk.

Firefighter Martin Hancock said that people should be more aware of how they park and drive around the narrow roads in Corsham.

Cars are double parked along the road on a daily basis preventing wide vehicles getting along Station Road.

Corsham Town Council and Corsham fire crews have discussed the bad parking on Station Road to see what can be done to deter people from double-parking near the cricket club.

The council conferred with Wiltshire County Council on a range of traffic changes in the area and placing double yellow lines on Station Road is one of them. The use of the road for parking has increased since free parking was taken away from the town centre last year.

Mr Hancock said: "There are many narrow streets in Corsham which can cause us problems but Station Road is our main concern and although there are traffic plans underway with the council to deter drivers it is still a problem.

"Once a fire appliance got stuck trying to get down the road when we were attending a fire. The firemen had to get out and run to the incident further down the road.

"Thankfully nothing has happened yet that endangers people's lives.

"It is a concern as it adds minutes when attending a fire and risks lives."

Wiltshire County Council is expected to make a decision on double yellow lines on Station Road later in the summer.