A COUNCILLOR whose wife ended up in hospital after a crash near Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School has called for urgent action to sort out parking issues.

Cllr Derek Hardman told his fellow Blackburn with Darwen councillors that the issue of people parking on Dukes Brow and West Park Road in Blackburn has been “horrific” for too long.

Blackburn with Darwen Council recently introduced a raft of measures aimed at tackling the problem but executive member for growth and regeneration, Cllr Phil Riley, admitted more needed to be done.

Earlier this year, Blackburn with Darwen Council unveiled proposals aimed at improving road safety and reducing congestion on West Park Road and Dukes Brow.

Under the scheme, cars will be banned from waiting at any time on Burlington Street and West Park Road, while there will also be no loading or unloading on West Park Road at any time.

The same measures will be in place on Dukes Brow but limited to Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm during school term time.

In recent years, there have been problems with parents accessing the school, double parking in Dukes Brow and West Park Road, while buses have also been struggling.

Cllr Hardman said: “Dukes Brow and West Park Road have been horrific for quite some time.

“Last week my wife was in an accident on Dukes Brow and ended up in hospital because of all the traffic and people parking everywhere.

“With West Park Road on the left-hand side, the three-hour waiting limit has been taken off and people are coming in early and parking all day. There’s no drop-off zone at all now. If the restriction was put back on, at least people could come and drop off their kids.

“The whole situation needs looking at again.”

Cllr Riley said: “It’s a difficult issue because it’s an area of the town where there are far more cars than it was ever intended for.

“Not everyone drives in a courteous way.

“There are solutions we are looking at and we have had a lot of suggestions.

“This is not finished and we are continuing to look at it.

“What we have done so far was with the best intentions but it is being exploited.

“If every parent insists on dropping their child off within three inches of the school gates, it’s not going to work.”

Earlier this year, it was reported residents of Dukes Brow objected to the proposal to introduce school keep clear markings on the residential side of the road as well as the school side.

The objectors said that this restriction would result in elderly residents and visitors having to walk further as they would not be able to park near their homes.

Fears were raised by parents and grandparents concerned this will have an impact on young children’s safety as they will have to walk further from their parking place to the school.