Councillor slams pavement blocking city centre parkers

Picture tweeted by Preston councillor Drew Gayle saying: "Growing problem parking on shared space, need to address."

Taking to social media site Twitter to voice his concerns, Preston city centre councillor Drew Gayle tweeted a photo showing at least six cars blocking the shared space on Fishergate.

And Drew believes the problem is getting worse and says something needs to be done.

“I’ve had quite a few people messaging me about the problem and I have to say I’m starting to share their concerns,” he said. “People are using the shared space and larger pavements as a way of getting free parking and it’s not right.

“We don’t want to ruin the slabs as they’re definitely not meant for cars and I’m a big fan of the shared space, I think it looks great.”

And Drew also says there’s no need for people to be parking there with the city inundated with car parking.

He said: “There’s certainly not a lack of parking, in fact there’s a surplus! There are literally thousands of spaces around the city centre so there’s no reason to be parking there.”

And it isn’t only the shared space Drew is worried about.

“The cars are completely blocking the pavement for pedestrians,” Drew said. “If someone with a pram or in a wheelchair tried to get past, they couldn’t, and it’s unacceptable.”

The space is managed by Lancashire County Council and Paul Riley, parking services manager for council, said: “People should always park their vehicles appropriately, in suitable places and not on the pavement. We carry out enforcement at various times and will issue notices to anyone who breaches parking regulations.”