CALLS have been made for increased patrols from traffic wardens within bad-parking-hit areas of Weymouth.
On Friday morning, Penny Street was blocked due to a car being parked on double yellow lines, which stopped a Dorset Council bin wagon from full access of the road.
The wagon was only able to reach halfway down the road - with workmen having to carry heavy rubbish bags and recycling tubs a further distance than usually required, which is a health and safety issue.
There have been previous concerns expressed by the emergency services over bad parking preventing them getting to the scenes of incidents.
Both the fire service and ambulance has appealed for drivers to be more considerate.
Melcombe Regis councillor Tia Roos is now calling for increased patrols from traffic wardens and is asking for ‘more consideration’ from road users guilty of leaving their cars parked on double yellow lines for long periods of time.
She said: “We could do with more officers patrolling the streets around the Park District to pick up those in double yellows.
“It gets worse every summer especially.
“It’s a shame they’re not considering the work folk in the area.
“They should be more considerate.
“It would be worth residents reporting to Dorset Council traffic wardens where there are regular problems.
“The more complaints and the more united people are in tackling an issue, the harder it is for Dorset Council to ignore.”
According to The Highway Code, double yellow lines indicate a prohibition of waiting at any time even if there are no upright signs.
A Highway Code spokesman said: “When it comes to double yellow lines, the best bet is to assume that you can’t park there at any time.”
READ MORE: The most 'inconsiderate' and 'nightmare' parking seen in Dorset
Jon Orrell, who is also a councillor for the Melcombe Regis area, is pleading to the public to park legally after raising concerns bad parking could block access for emergency services.
He said: “I’m urging residents to park legally.
"The yellow lines are there for good reason.
"This time it was a bin lorry, but the next time it could be a fire engine.”
A spokesman from Dorset Council said: "We often have difficulties collecting rubbish due to inconsiderate parking blocking access.
"When we find a vehicle preventing access, we liaise with our parking services team to try and resolve the issue.
"If not, then we will try again later in the day. On the third time of trying the car had moved and we could collect residents’ refuse."
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