Our street is a nightmare with heavy traffic – we cannot park in front of our houses and our cars are constantly damaged

FRUSHED residents on a ‘nightmare’ street say they can’t park their cars in front of their homes and their vehicles are constantly being damaged.

Heavy traffic on this Nottinghamshire road throughout the day also causes congestion – a major problem for emergency services.

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Some residents believe the number of cars parked on the narrow street and regularly congested traffic make life difficult when fire engines and ambulances try to drive through the street, which is very close to Newark Hospital and Newark Fire Station .

Zac Goodspeed, station manager at Newark Fire Station, said: “In an emergency, every second counts and we are asking people to be considerate when parking so emergency vehicles can easily pass through if necessary.

“Please do not compromise this by parking over fire hydrant signs which are clearly posted near the road as we may need to access these to fight a fire.”

Lenford Bennett, 32, a music hospitality worker and resident, said: “It’s more the congestion that’s causing problems than anything else.

“The congestion is bad because there are a lot of trucks going up and down the road because if there’s an accident on the A1 they’re all diverted through Hawtonville onto that road.

“Sometimes when I park, I can’t park because there’s traffic and I have to drive around. I often have to park further down the street or around the corner. The street is narrow and there is a lot of through traffic. “

Referring to the emergency services, he added: “I’ve noticed them here before but I think now they know it’s too difficult so they’re going down Lime Grove instead to avoid that road.” As they come out of Lime Grove to the top whenever I see them.”

A 44-year-old health worker, who asked not to be named, said: “I’ve lost four power mirrors in two years and I’ve had a lot of scratches. Only once did someone actually stop and say ‘I’m really sorry’ and he said he was dodging an ambulance.

“At night there is a racetrack here. In the morning I make sure that my car is parked correctly, otherwise there is no chance of getting out.”

She described emergency vehicles struggling “quite often” on the road because “there isn’t a lot of room for people to move around, especially at peak times and outside of school drop-off times.”

“If there’s been an accident, they all drive through here as a shortcut. I wouldn’t have moved here if I knew it was like this.”

The health worker added that she thinks on-street parking permits for residents or speed bumps are “good” for the area.

Warehouse manager Tony Bestwick, 64, said: “It’s getting a lot more congested than it used to be, with the new estate at the end and the new estate over there, there’s a lot more traffic.

“We have to park our car around the corner and a lot of people on Jubilee Street are having the same problems as us.

“We saw the emergency services trying to get here with difficulty, and big trucks were having trouble too. It’s always been a problem but not as bad as it is now as it can take 10-15 minutes to get off the road.”

Animal keeper Sophie Portrey, 28, also felt the problem was getting worse.

She said: “It’s pretty bad here, a lot of people don’t like letting you back in traffic either, it’s terrible.

“It’s probably worse during the day, but it’s not as bad at night. I think it would be better if we had permits as that would probably discourage people from going into town as a lot of people park here for the day because they don’t want to pay for hospital parking or drive into town .”

Sophie added: “Sometimes we come out and there are people who have broken mirrors on the floor, it’s always a risk to park here. Someone had left a cat on the street right in front of ours, and I work with animals, so it’s hard to do, you see. The time that happened there was two in one week and that was awful, you really have to watch what you are doing on this road.

Asked if she thinks the road could cause problems for emergency vehicles and other drivers, a 30-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, said: “I think it happens every now and then but I don’t always notice it.” should do something about it, there are always too many cars here.”

Researcher Sally Murry, 37, said: “I don’t drive but I know it can be difficult for others to park. Permits would be good because sometimes when my mum and dad are visiting they find it difficult and need to park near corner where there is space so it would be good for all residents. It’s just too crowded.”

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue have previously highlighted a number of problems with poorly parked vehicles on other roads across the county causing delays when en route to an incident.

Roads that have been highlighted by the Fire Service on social media in recent years include Peveril Road, Beeston; Strawberry Lane Retford; Gibbons Avenue, Stapleford and some streets in Eastwood.

Greg Cox, Divisional Director for Nottinghamshire at East Midlands Ambulance Service, added: “In an emergency situation, delays can put lives at risk.

“For this reason, we urge all motorists to park considerately and never leave their vehicle in a position that could prevent an ambulance or other emergency vehicle from getting through when an emergency call is made.”

It comes as these angry residents fear ambulances will have trouble reaching them in an emergency because they live on “the worst road in Britain”.

The Bel Air Chalet Estate in Essex is riddled with hundreds of potholes – some the size of ‘craters’ – that make life miserable.

Earlier this year, the UK’s most congested roads were revealed as the average driver lost 80 hours to traffic jams in 2022.

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