The standard of parking in Weston town centre is so poor it is putting pedestrians and wheelchair users in danger, as they are forced to move into the road to avoid vehicles parked ‘inconsiderately’.

This photo shows a vehicle parked badly in The Centre – an area where North Somerset Council was forced to install concrete bollards in an attempt to deter drivers from parking illegally.

The council admitted action was needed and said it hoped to crack down further on bad parking by issuing tickets when it takes on civil parking enforcement (CPE) from the police on April 1. However, in anticipation of the CPE introduction, the council began placing blue warning notices on vehicles flouting parking rules on Monday.

A council spokesman said: “Vehicles were parking in The Centre so that pedestrians, including wheelchairs and buggies, had to walk into the road. It was decided to prevent parking here by design rather than future enforcement.”

Central ward councillor Richard Nightingale said he feared Weston’s poor parking could one day result in a fatality. He said: “Dangerous and inconsiderate parking has reached epidemic levels right across Weston. I regularly see pedestrians having to walk in the road and people in wheelchairs negotiating traffic, just to avoid cars parked on pavements and crossings.”

The council’s executive member for highways, Elfan Ap Rees, said the introduction of CPE would go a long way in tackling problem parking.

Cllr Ap Rees said: “Our team of 11 civil enforcement officers will work seven days a week across North Somerset and we’ll have extra officers on duty during busy, peak periods. Any money from charges will go towards running the scheme and if there’s any surplus this will go towards transport initiatives and road improvements.”

Which Weston street has the worst standard of parking? Tell us your views – email newsdesk@westonmercury.co.uk or Tweet us @WSMercury