Pupils out on patrol to curb bad parkers

A PRIMARY school in Ellesmere Port is adopting an innovative strategy to clamp down on unlawful parking along its street, a problem that could potentially lead to catastrophe.

- BY CONAILL CORNER

One mum from St Saviour's Catholic Primary School in Great Sutton got in touch to share how her kids’ school is enlisting year six students to oversee the traffic flow during the hustle and bustle of school starting and finishing times.

Heather Neil said: “It’s been an ongoing issue for years outside the school. It’s a residential street, so there's lots of houses and lots of traffic.

“We haven't had any accidents as such; a couple of near misses and things like that, but it’s mainly the build-up of cars not parking where they're supposed to be, being on the zigzags while they're dropping off, parking on the pavements so much that you can’t even get past with the kids - never mind with a scooter or a pram or anything like that.

“Up until about four weeks ago, we've had traffic wardens and police there, and everything seemed to be okay when the drivers saw them, but as soon as they're gone, it's straight back to parking on the pavements.

“It’s disgusting that parents actually think they can do what they want. At the end of the day, this is our kids’ safety we're talking about.”

Heather explained that in recent weeks, the school has engaged its pupils to become ‘junior road safety officers’

She added: “For the past few weeks, we've had the junior road safety officers, basically doing a traffic warden’s job.

“The kids go out at 8.30am every morning in their little high-vis jackets, with their clipboards and they are telling the parents to move, writing down registration numbers and reporting people who constantly park where they're not supposed to be.

“I've been going to this school for 28 years. Never have I seen that street as clear as it has been these past couple of weeks. The kids are doing such an amazing job and they need a bit of recognition because going up to an adult and telling them to move takes some guts.