Yahoo News Council issue statement after video emerges of DOZENS of cars parked on pavement
The council says it is powerless to stop dodgy pavement parking in Longsight after a video emerged of dozens of cars blocking the footway.
The clip was filmed and posted on X (formerly Twitter) by user Stevie Zero as he cycled home to Levenshulme from his job in the city centre. Stevie is a regular cycle-commuter, and joked ‘it’s now illegal to park your car in the road in Longsight’.
He also believes the issue is nothing new, with a similar clip posted in 2023 from Beresford Road. Manchester council says it is powerless to stop the problem in the area.
"Unfortunately due to a lack of any legislation at a national level, the council is unable to enforce against pavement parking unless there are double yellow lines, or other parking measures in place where it is forbidden,” a spokesperson said.
"We appreciate how frustrating this must be for residents, yet, we will continue to make our case to the central government to provide local authorities the power they need to be able to tackle this issue."
Beresford Road does not have double yellow lines visible, and nor is it inside any residents parking scheme zones where pavement parking can be banned, such as in the nearby Rusholme and Moss Side zone.
It is not currently illegal to park on the pavement in England, except in London where a ban came into force in 1974. However, the Highway Code says drivers should not partially or fully park on the pavement.
But that is often at odds with another section of the Code, with rule 42 saying ‘you MUST NOT leave your vehicle or trailer in a dangerous position or where it causes any unnecessary obstruction of the road’.
The RAC says that for a motorist to be fined for breaking rule 242, a police officer — not a parking attendant or traffic warden — must be the individual observing the position of the car in the road and judge it to be ‘causing any unnecessary obstruction of the road’.
The RAC’s advice for drivers outside of London is ‘to use common sense when faced with no other option but to park on the pavement’.
“If you are parking along a narrow road, where parking wholly on the road would stop other cars, and particularly emergency vehicles, from getting through, then it is a sensible option to park partially on a pavement, providing there are no parking restrictions and providing you are not blocking a wheelchair user or pram from using the pavement,” its website says.
“If there are restrictions, or your parking would cause wheelchair users or people with prams to have to walk into the road, then you should find somewhere else to park.”
