Residents fed up with parents on the school run parking on their road have turned vigilante and blocked access.
Neighbours living in the quiet cul-de-sac barricaded the road with wheelie bins so drivers couldn’t get through, claiming they were fed up of cars being left in front of their driveways.
The group, who live on Halton Place in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, said they’d ‘had enough’ of being blocked from leaving their homes and held the protest on Monday afternoon, reports Metro.
Halton Place gives onto an emergency access gate for Cleethorpes Academy, which the school repurposed as a second entrance during the pandemic.
The school said it had opened the entrance to tackle ‘government restrictions regarding bubble groups and staggered start and finish times’ and has decided to keep using it because of the increasing number of pupils attending.
One resident who has lived in the cul-de-sac for 23 years told GrimsbyLive : “We understood that the emergency access gate for the school had to be used during the pandemic and it was to keep everyone safe.
“But now they want to use it permanently and we are just not having it. We were promised that it would only be used during the pandemic. But now they want to make it permanent.
“We get parents parking across our driveway. We have to organise our lives around school times.
“Try telling your GP that you can’t make it for a 9am appointment because you can’t get out. There are people who have lived here for over 30 years.
“People bought their houses because they were told the gate was only an emergency access.’
Another resident said they were fed up with kids riding bicycles along the pavement and had tried to complain but had received abuse back.
Local Tory councillor Bob Callison, who attended the blockade in support of the disgruntled neighbours, said: “There are many round here who are elderly, and they can’t get out of their homes or get the home helps they need.
“The residents are letting people walk along the road but there won’t be any cars coming through to pick up children.’
But parents with children at Cleethorpes Academy were upset by the protest and some of them called the police after pupils were held up when leaving school.
Humberside Police confirmed they were called to ‘reports of a small protest and highway disruption’ on the road at 2.30pm on Monday.
“My lad has special needs and needs to be picked up from the same spot every day otherwise he has a breakdown. I don’t block anyone’s drive. It needs sorting,” said one angry parent.
Cleethorpes Academy’s principal, Janice Thorpes, said the school had been in talks with councillors in an attempt to find a solution that worked for both parents and residents.
But she added that the school wouldn’t back down from letting children use the access because “safeguarding our students” was their number one priority.
“This arrangement has proved very successful and has enhanced student safety as the entrance into the Academy from Grainsby Avenue is too small for 900 plus students, and there are a large number of cars parked on both sides of the road,” Ms Thorpes explained.
“The Academy has grown substantially since opening in 2010 with a 20 per cent increase in numbers on roll. As a result, we have now decided to use both entrances to the Academy.
“We are exceptionally disappointed that the residents of Halton Place and a local councillor have taken this action as it has caused considerable disruption to the Academy and has caused distress to students.”
