School staff abused in dangerous parking row

3:50pm Monday 25th February 2013 in News

STAFF at a Bolton school are bearing the brunt of daily abuse from parents who park on double yellow lines to drop off and pick up their children.

Sharples Primary School, which is in a cul-de-sac, block off the car park with cones for 20 minutes each morning and afternoon so the 225 children can safely enter and leave the school.

But parents continue to drive up the road, park on yellow lines, on people’s drives and reverse and turn round dangerously.

The problem has become so bad that the school, which has disabled and visually-impaired pupils, contacted The Bolton News and a reporter and photographer went to witness the situation first hand during the morning school run.

Staff stressed that it is a minority of parents who are causing the parking problems but fail to change their ways despite being given letters, text messages, and information on the school website.

Governor James Heyes and site manager Paul Leake stand outside the school in all weathers with cones to help marshall the children safely to and from the premises.

Mr Heyes said: “It is the children’s safety that we are interested in and that is what the parents don’t seem to get.

“It is a dead end and there is no solution, I have spent hours with the council and had no joy.”

Pauline Clarke, the school business manager, said: “Paul and James are out every day and get abuse and are now used to it.

“We are concerned that a child could get hurt.

“A lot of parents park away from the school and walk up but the minority are causing problems.”

One parent shouted she could park on the lines because they are broken and not enforceable while another swore about pictures being taken.

Nicola Walker, aged 34, who lives on Hugh Lupus Street and also has three children at the school, said: “They park right outside and when I had a double buggy I pushed it out of the door and a car swung on the pavement to park and I had to pull it back in quickly. It was really scary.

“There are so many children trying to cross. The number of times I have had to knock on reversing car windows is ridiculous.”

One driver, who asked not to be named, said: “The school needs to sort out some sort of drop-off and pick-up system.

“We have had meetings in the past but nothing has been done. Some parents are just not bothered, I park on the main road and walk up.”

Comments(56)

marco999 says...
9:47am Mon 25 Feb 13

Sadly this is a typical scene outside a lot of schools all over the land. I have witnessed it myself many times. There are a hardcore element of parents who think the law does not apply to them and believe they can park wherever they like often causing misery to other road users, pedestrians and local residents not to mention the dangers involved. They turn up at the last minute and have to deposit their precious darlings as close to the school as is possible so that they don’t have to walk. It is selfish, ignorant and dangerous and it’s happening all over the place. As we can see from this story, despite the parents getting letters and text messages they still continue to create chaos because they simply do not care. I don’t know what the answer is. You can have meetings highlighting the dangers until kingdom come but the hardcore of parents will continue to think that any laws passed do not apply to them and even if they did – so what? The softly softly approach just doesn’t work so I guess the schools should adopt a hardcore stance too. They should liase with police and the traffic warden service and see what, if anything, they can do to stop this. Failing this, parents who continue to flout the law should be brought to account in other ways. At the end of the day these people are breaking the law – parking on yellow lines, causing an obstruction, displaying abusive behaviour in public, driving dangerously and so on – if someone did that in front of my house every day I would call the police and have them charged – simple as that.

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Hough64 says...
9:50am Mon 25 Feb 13

So when these kids grow up thinking its ok to abuse people will their parents realise it was themselves that taught them to be like this?

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questionairre says...
9:57am Mon 25 Feb 13

It would be great if we could re align these morons with a simple injection to the arm.
Then they wake up with a caring and polite attitude to life and put others first.
Oh well dreaming again.

The only way to change these idiots is to hit them in the pocket, as the police did near to Bolton School the other day.

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Menhed says...
10:05am Mon 25 Feb 13

Simple solution, find a couple of yards to park the BMBC smart (snooper) car at drop off and pick up times.

Sounds like enough warnings/requests have been made.

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BWFC71 says...
10:06am Mon 25 Feb 13

I know the street in which thsi is occuring, it isn't a wide street, in fact it is quite narrow, to be fair, it would be better if they used the cones to close the street off (except for the street residents, doctors and emergency vehciles) for 30 minutes in the morning and afternoon completely and not just the top end at the school entrance. This ccould have to roce parents to park up and drop-off on Ashworth Lane, which would be far sfaer than what is currently happening. Parents have to learn that driving and dropping children off is a luxury and should be be a normal activity!!!

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BWFC71 says...
10:07am Mon 25 Feb 13

this not thsi
could not could
force not roce
safer not sfaer

Report this post »

Hough64 says...
10:33am Mon 25 Feb 13

Or even better, take the children whose moronic parents abuse the staff out of the school, send them somewhere further away, give them something to really moan about, I bet half of them live in walking distance too.

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markwads@sky.com says...
11:38am Mon 25 Feb 13

I actually live on hugh lupus street, And see this every single day,Myself and partner have contacted the council and local mp's on numerous occasions! And still nothing is done.The same people who thinkits fine,a couple of parents only live on or aound ashworth lane and still drive to school.If any emergency vehicles needed to get up the street they wouldnt! Something really does need to be done,some parents are plain thick!

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chris25 says...
11:41am Mon 25 Feb 13

leave of the parents they want to get back home in time for jeremy kyle ,seriously though what will it take a child to get injured or worse before they stop doing stupid and dangerous parking .i always walked to school with my son and enjoyed our chats and bonding on the way

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Rememberscarborough says...
11:42am Mon 25 Feb 13

Why can't all the traffic wardens in Bolton town centre be allocated a different school each day to actually provide a useful role in society? The parents believe they are beyond the law so hit them hard in the pocket to prove that they are wrong. Personally, I'd make parking in any disabled spot a crime to hit this sort of person twice.

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ange36 says...
11:59am Mon 25 Feb 13

I walk my 2 children to this school every day, I live about 6 minutes walk away from the school & cannot believe that parents who live near me or closer than we do drive to school every day! its just plain lazy!!, then they think they can just drive up Hugh Lupus St & let the kids out, I like to make sure my children get into school ok & couldn't leave them at the gates. We've had the BMBC smart car & the police stood at the bottom of the st, and it stops for that day, but the only thing that will make these lazy & inconsiderate parents stop driving up Hugh Lupus St will be when a child gets hurt & we have had some very near misses in the past so it wont be long now until one does!

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woadtom says...
12:08pm Mon 25 Feb 13

I can not believe some parents who live less than 5 minutes walk from the school that drive to school and even use hugh lupus street to park. I know of one individual who is even a parent Governor that most days drives to school and actually lives 5 or 6 minutes walk from the school, that is just plain lazy, as for the parent who drive up hugh lupus street to park, why not park on Ashworth lane or even better WALK !

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hoboh2o says...
12:39pm Mon 25 Feb 13

ange36 wrote:
I walk my 2 children to this school every day, I live about 6 minutes walk away from the school & cannot believe that parents who live near me or closer than we do drive to school every day! its just plain lazy!!, then they think they can just drive up Hugh Lupus St & let the kids out, I like to make sure my children get into school ok & couldn't leave them at the gates. We've had the BMBC smart car & the police stood at the bottom of the st, and it stops for that day, but the only thing that will make these lazy & inconsiderate parents stop driving up Hugh Lupus St will be when a child gets hurt & we have had some very near misses in the past so it wont be long now until one does!
If the 'smart snooper' and police turned up at random and ticketed these morons, after a few fixed penalty's the message would hit home!
Parent govenor eh? Name and shame the lazy sod!

Report this post »

sunfun says...
12:47pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Simple solution! Make the Kids walk, this might also help the expanding waistlines of some of the parents I see smoking there heads off at the school gates on a daily basis too.

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brian jones says...
12:49pm Mon 25 Feb 13

The council probably need to get some loading restrictions in place if they want to avoid these problems. The police won't ticket unless there is an obstruction, as parking is decriminalised in Bolton.

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brian jones says...
12:51pm Mon 25 Feb 13

If any cars are being driven in an anti-social manner, perhaps a call to the police would be in order. A s59 might concentrate the driver's mind a little.

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SmoggyDiasboro says...
12:56pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Simpler - as has been said (and by me re the Westhoughton Sacred Heart issue where residents are going to find themselves with a parking fine for leaving their own car, outside their own house on Easter Monday morning), expel a couple of kids pour encourager les autres parents. Message would soon get through

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underwater says...
1:34pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Lazy Lazy Lazy ,parents and children. No wonder we have got a generation of obese, disgusting, moronic people in Bolton. I feel ashamed to say I am from Bolton these days.

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Marzi30 says...
1:36pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Photograph all the culprits and print their pictures in the Bolton News

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BWFC1988 says...
4:36pm Mon 25 Feb 13

BWFC71 wrote:
this not thsi
could not could
force not roce
safer not sfaer
Do you want to give it another go?

Preferably in English.

Report this post »

BWFC1988 says...
4:39pm Mon 25 Feb 13

BWFC1988 wrote:
BWFC71 wrote:
this not thsi
could not could
force not roce
safer not sfaer
Do you want to give it another go?

Preferably in English.
Never mind, I can see where you're going with it now!

*hand slaps forehead

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hoboh2o says...
4:41pm Mon 25 Feb 13

BWFC1988 wrote:
BWFC71 wrote:
this not thsi
could not could
force not roce
safer not sfaer
Do you want to give it another go?

Preferably in English.
He's a spell check policeman who cocked up :-)

Report this post »

Just Thought says...
4:42pm Mon 25 Feb 13

The Council do nothing. Well whats new ?
Lets hope for the kids sake that they get to and from school safely.

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Daz Bond says...
4:47pm Mon 25 Feb 13

This is not an isolated problem at one school. This is a problem at many schools. What baffles me is that these schools have a 'catchment' area which I would of thought for the majority of parents was within walking distance from the schools. I live near a primary school where parking is a problem and not only do these parents think they are above the law when it comes to parking they also think that driving whilst on a mobile phone or ensuring their child is secured in a booster seat also does not apply to them.
On occasions the BMBC smart car has been in the area. They have to post warning signs to say they are there and the position that they use to park themselves does not allow full visibility for parents parking on yellow lines. I challenged the warden in the BMBC car the last time he was in the area and even took a picture of a car parked lower down than him on yellow lines obstructing the road and he said he was not allowed to get out of his car to take a picture and he had to by law give notice that he was in the area so its no surprise that on this night he caught no one and then it is deemed not to be a problem area after all

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hoboh2o says...
5:13pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Daz Bond wrote:
This is not an isolated problem at one school. This is a problem at many schools. What baffles me is that these schools have a 'catchment' area which I would of thought for the majority of parents was within walking distance from the schools. I live near a primary school where parking is a problem and not only do these parents think they are above the law when it comes to parking they also think that driving whilst on a mobile phone or ensuring their child is secured in a booster seat also does not apply to them.
On occasions the BMBC smart car has been in the area. They have to post warning signs to say they are there and the position that they use to park themselves does not allow full visibility for parents parking on yellow lines. I challenged the warden in the BMBC car the last time he was in the area and even took a picture of a car parked lower down than him on yellow lines obstructing the road and he said he was not allowed to get out of his car to take a picture and he had to by law give notice that he was in the area so its no surprise that on this night he caught no one and then it is deemed not to be a problem area after all
Give notice by law? Well when he's parked on Manchester road kearsley near the Tesco express, Ive never seen any warning or notice he's there, unless the notice of winter hill popping out the roof of a toy car!

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brian jones says...
5:17pm Mon 25 Feb 13

They shouldn't even use the smart car if they could use a CEO instead.

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TrippleHazard says...
6:01pm Mon 25 Feb 13

But if you live in Heaton they will prosecute you for going down a sidestreet
I thought bolton council bought the CCTV car for this perpose

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JustBecause says...
6:29pm Mon 25 Feb 13

I take it the photographer from BEN didn't take any pictures ???

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JustBecause says...
6:32pm Mon 25 Feb 13

If I was the head I would take the pictures of the idiots and put them on the school website u der a page named "one day this person may kill a child" are they your mummy and daddy.

Or move the cones, park your car I. The road get proactive for gods sake, they wouldn't be parking there if it was me, the staffs cars would all be in the street to start with there would be no point in driving in. I can think of a million ways to stop this.

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Bolton101 says...
6:40pm Mon 25 Feb 13

St Matthews on the bottom of Green Lane is another prime example. Cars parked on double yellow lines causing an obstruction on the bridge. Parents also stop in front of the lolly pop man to let their children get out of their cars. If the car behind hits them this could be potentially dangerous and cause serious harm to the child/children. Action is need now not when a child is killed.

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PMW35/7 says...
6:40pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Just another example of the selfish, me me me me society that we live in now a days. Block the whole road off. Put a clearway in or make it a red route and hit anybody that flouts the law where it hurts!.

Right on their nose! ;) ;)

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Megs05 says...
7:43pm Mon 25 Feb 13

JustBecause wrote:
If I was the head I would take the pictures of the idiots and put them on the school website u der a page named "one day this person may kill a child" are they your mummy and daddy.

Or move the cones, park your car I. The road get proactive for gods sake, they wouldn't be parking there if it was me, the staffs cars would all be in the street to start with there would be no point in driving in. I can think of a million ways to stop this.
If staff park in the street then where would people who live in the street park then.how do you stop them parking on the pavement then?

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hoboh2o says...
8:15pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Expel their brats then as already been said!

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127001 says...
9:28pm Mon 25 Feb 13

The answer is simple.

Ingredients;

Scene of crime tape
tomato sauce
smoked mackeral

Method;

Wrap scene of crime tape round 'abusive' parent or car.
Squirt tomato sauce on parent or write on windscreen (With tomato sauce) 'no parking'. Stick smoked mackeral under windscreen wipers.

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calleywoo says...
12:16am Tue 26 Feb 13

I see these parents who could easily walk their children to school with no seat belts on. Even the children haven't got them on. They do 3 point turns wherever they want causing even more chaos. Who taught these people to drive? There does tend to be a common denominator!

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swager123 says...
8:24am Tue 26 Feb 13

127001 wrote:
The answer is simple.

Ingredients;

Scene of crime tape
tomato sauce
smoked mackeral

Method;

Wrap scene of crime tape round 'abusive' parent or car.
Squirt tomato sauce on parent or write on windscreen (With tomato sauce) 'no parking'. Stick smoked mackeral under windscreen wipers.
pmsfl !!!!

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zoomzam says...
9:32am Tue 26 Feb 13

This happend daily at most schools! There are many lazy people who continue to drop their children off in cars despite living a few hundred yards away from the school. Some have these huge 4x4's which are a nuisance in such situations. The answer to this lies in walking to school, not allowing motorists to park anywhere near a school (100 yards radius), booking them if they flirt with the law and educating these lazy sods!

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oftbewildered2 says...
10:24am Tue 26 Feb 13

hoboh2o wrote:
BWFC1988 wrote:
BWFC71 wrote:
this not thsi
could not could
force not roce
safer not sfaer
Do you want to give it another go?

Preferably in English.
He's a spell check policeman who cocked up :-)
well it made me smile - I could just see the steam coming our of your ears as you typed in your comments. Done the same thing myself. At least you noticed and rectified your mistakes.

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BWFC71 says...
10:38am Tue 26 Feb 13

Funny how none of the lazy parents have commented on to the reasons as to why they do what they do? Why is that? Are they ashamed of what they do?

I used to walk it from a street off Thornham Drive to both Holy Infants and then Thornleigh. It did me no harm and kept me fit. What has changed in the last 20odd years so that children have to be driven to/from school?

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wagstaff says...
12:17pm Tue 26 Feb 13

just the same on park rd stuck up parents in oversized 4 wheel drive, thinking that they own the road,

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stevet1964 says...
1:51pm Tue 26 Feb 13

i live in a cul de sac in walkden right next to st pauls heathside and this goes on there every day morning and afternoon at the scholand surestart. not only that but teachers park outside residents houses all day meaning we have to walk for two streets with shopping and park away from our homes. how kids are not injured by cars flying around the corner i never know . seems like this is gonna esculate at all schools until there is an accident or fatality. prevetion surely is better than cure

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Sparkiedog1 says...
2:04pm Tue 26 Feb 13

I dont see you issues why cant parents not expect to drop their kids off right near the gates, why should they have to expect their kids to walk.
why should schools not be able to put out a parking warden of their own to police their own site.. why? because none of them can be bothered its always someonelse's fault
simple
1 warning to an offence of parking gets a verbal warning
2nd warning is written
3rd warning child is expelled with no comeback to the school by the council as the parents are a persistant danger to other school and road users.

There are plenty of kids who need school placements nearer to home
if not it will olny take a few expulsions and the parents will get get the message. especially if this is announced at every parents evening and letters at the beginning of every term are issued and the oparents are asked to sign a school saftey initiative at the beginnimng of every year so they cannot say they don't know about it.
all it takes is to organise it and it can be overcome but make the schools take a stand and be responsible for the following up of the actions as part of the daily routine same as any business with Health and saftey issues

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mr.mark.c says...
2:40pm Tue 26 Feb 13

wagstaff wrote:
just the same on park rd stuck up parents in oversized 4 wheel drive, thinking that they own the road,
I can not see how a type of car reflects the type of person driving it, enlighten me.
The fact is that there are a lot of people out there that shouldn't be allowed to drive regardless of vehicle type,

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Rememberscarborough says...
4:51pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Maybe we could pick up on an American idea? I'm sure I've seen TV programmes where parents on a rota direct the traffic allowing the other parents to drop off their kids inside the school grounds. Perhaps we could adopt this idea to help move everything along and keep everyone happy?

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markwads@sky.com says...
9:44pm Tue 26 Feb 13

The picture in the paper does the story no justice ! They should of took the pic from top of street!

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Bazzerd says...
11:09pm Tue 26 Feb 13

DO none of the aforementioned children have legs???...apologies if they don't cos i'm pretty sure if they have ..the poor little dears can manage a hundred yards or two of 'route march' even in light drizzle..or 'shock horror'...'mist'
I KNOW it's not the kids fault..its the W*anker parents who insist on having a 4x4 to protect the spawn of their loins from danger on a 400 yard walk to school .

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Wigan Trotter says...
8:20am Wed 27 Feb 13

More often than not, you will find that it's the petty snobs in the big cars like 4x4's who think that they can do what they want!

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wagstaff says...
11:17am Wed 27 Feb 13

mr.mark.c wrote:
wagstaff wrote:
just the same on park rd stuck up parents in oversized 4 wheel drive, thinking that they own the road,
I can not see how a type of car reflects the type of person driving it, enlighten me.
The fact is that there are a lot of people out there that shouldn't be allowed to drive regardless of vehicle type,
well mr mark c just have a drive up park rd/dobson rd (if you can) between 8.30/9.00 and 3.30/4.00 and look at the cars and the driving style of the people in them, who because of the type of car do think they own the roads.
wigan trotter has got it bang on.
just as a matter of intrest what car do you drive and do you use it to drop your children off at school, bolton school maybe ???

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hazdbfs says...
3:41pm Wed 27 Feb 13

I agree with JustBecause. Take photographs, put them on the school website, in newsletters, around the school, and shame the lazy, inconsiderate fools. Can't see why this cannot be done? They are causing a nuisance and have been warned on countless occasions. name and shame!!

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mr.mark.c says...
3:41pm Wed 27 Feb 13

wagstaff wrote:
mr.mark.c wrote:
wagstaff wrote:
just the same on park rd stuck up parents in oversized 4 wheel drive, thinking that they own the road,
I can not see how a type of car reflects the type of person driving it, enlighten me.
The fact is that there are a lot of people out there that shouldn't be allowed to drive regardless of vehicle type,
well mr mark c just have a drive up park rd/dobson rd (if you can) between 8.30/9.00 and 3.30/4.00 and look at the cars and the driving style of the people in them, who because of the type of car do think they own the roads.
wigan trotter has got it bang on.
just as a matter of intrest what car do you drive and do you use it to drop your children off at school, bolton school maybe ???
I drive an Isuzu Trooper, and I only have one child of school age, he either rides his bike or catches the bus depending on weather.

PS, I have been driving for 26 years and never had so much as a parking ticket, maybe people only notice bad driving and then tar all with the same brush, I could say the worse drivers are in Corsas or Saxos but that would be a little unfair ;)

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saj70n says...
9:27pm Wed 27 Feb 13

What I can't understand people are dropping the kids off in cars even if they live within walking distance.

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Wigan Trotter says...
6:56am Thu 28 Feb 13

saj70n

Just to lazy to walk, they even go to shops where I live even though they only a street or so away.

Some now even ride round on scooters even if their legs are working.

I blame the benefit system for creating laziness.

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bignosebugger says...
2:28pm Thu 28 Feb 13

the must be a lot of fat backsides up that way?

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Florence1234 says...
9:28pm Thu 28 Feb 13

I drive my 6 year old daughter a short distance to school as she is disabled and at the moment cannot manage the walk. However we set off early so we can park safely and appropriately and at home time I arrive early to do the same. On at least 3 occasions (most recently this morning) cars mount the pavement and hit you with their mirrors and look at you as though you have no right to be on the pavement usually for the sake of parking the extra 10/15 yards closer to school ! Not all parents who drive to school do it because they are lazy but the people who drive and park dangerously need to be named and shamed and fined repeatedly to get the message across.

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mr.mark.c says...
9:44pm Thu 28 Feb 13

Florence1234 wrote:
I drive my 6 year old daughter a short distance to school as she is disabled and at the moment cannot manage the walk. However we set off early so we can park safely and appropriately and at home time I arrive early to do the same. On at least 3 occasions (most recently this morning) cars mount the pavement and hit you with their mirrors and look at you as though you have no right to be on the pavement usually for the sake of parking the extra 10/15 yards closer to school ! Not all parents who drive to school do it because they are lazy but the people who drive and park dangerously need to be named and shamed and fined repeatedly to get the message across.
Folks like you should be able to stop on the school grounds and not need to post here trying to justify your parking.
So lift your head up high and be proud :)

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Harry-Joe says...
11:29am Fri 1 Mar 13

Throw their kids out of the school. If Parents are putting their own and other children at risk they should not be allowed to attend the school. the inconvienence of having to find another school and travel further will no doubt scare the lazy ignorant parents to consider others and listen to the school.

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