A furious Edinburgh resident has spoken of his anger at 'speeding angry drivers' that left his 90-year-old father-in-law trapped in his own home.
George Johnstone, who lives in Newbridge with his wife and father-in-law, says issues with speeding and parking have blighted the community.
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The issues have left his father-in-law house bound and his wife receiving threats from car owners that use their community as a car park.
George says that the issue has become worse since the Covid pandemic and that the worse impacted areas are Old Linton Street and Bridge Street in the village.
A number of residents are unable to access their homes during weekday working hours due to employees from businesses in the area parking in residential areas.
As well as this, he says that the community is also used as a “rat run” for various lorries and courier vans that often speed through the sleepy community.
George is calling on both Edinburgh City Council and Police Scotland to tackle the issue.
He said: “The issue is getting ridiculous now. I have been out myself and challenged the drivers and they just do not seem to care.
“I have spoken with various businesses in the past and they said the issue would be resolved but unfortunately nothing has come to pass.
“Both my wife and I have tried to challenge those parking in our community and have both been threatened by drivers when doing so. It is getting ridiculous.
“With this we have seen couriers and lorries speeding through Bridge Street trying to beat the lights.
“We have contacted the police on a number of occasions and all they could offer me was a cardboard cut out of a police officer with a speed gun.
“After a while they said they would get officers to monitor the issue but nothing seems to have materialised as both problems are ongoing.
“The issue is that there is zero enforcement. I’ve complained to the council but when they sent someone out, the individual just reiterated to the drivers that they were legally allowed to park in residential areas. Something has to be done.
“We feel like we have been forgotten out here. There has been moved to introduce pedestrianised areas and to reduce the impact of cars on residential communities in areas across the capital. Are we just expected to get on with it without any support?
“We pay Edinburgh council tax rates without getting the support we are entitled to.
“The area needs to be closed like Drum Brae was in the past after it was used as a rat run by various actors.
“There simply has to be enforcement. My father in-law who is 90 is frightened to leave the home because of all of this.”
An Edinburgh City Council spokesperson said: “In February 2020 we made changes to parking provisions in Newbridge, including the introduction of 24-hour waiting restrictions at key locations. We’ve since carried out surveys during 2020 and 2021, which have indicated that parking behaviour in the affected streets has improved significantly.
“We will however continue to monitor the situation to ascertain whether further changes to parking are required. We’re also investigating the introduction of bus lane restrictions on Old Liston Road to address issues relating to commercial vehicles.”
Police Scotland were contacted for comment regarding the speeding issue.
