Parents and relatives whose children attend a school in Ilkeston have provided an insight into the 'ridiculous' parking outside the school gates at peak times.
Cotmanhay Junior School, in Beauvale Drive, was namechecked by police as an example of where there have been problems with parking outside of schools.
In a post on the Ilkeston Police SNT Facebook page, officers said there was an issue with parking on a pavement area outside flats opposite the school.
Police said they saw a car parked there on Friday morning (January 21), adding: "On seeing police the car drove down the pavement to join the road at the bottom."
Derbyshire Constabulary said this was not acceptable and action would be taken.
And parents and relatives said that parking around the school was a 'big issue', with the situation described as 'ridiculous', 'mental' and 'terrible'.
Corrine Kirk, 23, whose son attends the school, said: "It's terrible, it's ridiculous - you get cars on each side of the road and police do tell them to move.
"My son has gone here for nearly five years and it's never changed, but something needs to be done, I'm worried about the kids."
Ashley Hudson, 29, a stay-at-home mum who lives locally, said parking in the area was 'crazy'.
"It's mental - there was a car park where new houses were built before, and since that's been taken out, it's been crazy," she said.
"I think a car park would make things safer, but I wouldn't know where it could go."
Mum Sian Walker, 24, who lives further up Cotmanhay Road, said: "It's ridiculous, normally there's a police officer that comes around, but people park anywhere.
"It goes as far up Beauvale Drive as you can see."
Melissa Beckett, 40, a full time carer who travels on the bus with her daughter to get to the school, said: "It's chaotic and it's always been like it, there is simply never a place to park.
"A car park is needed for somewhere for all of them to park."
Charlene Willis, 42, who works part time at Kerry's Chippy, in Pelham Street in the town, said: "It's ridiculous and it's a big issue - it's very busy, but there's nowhere for anyone to go, and it's been like it for a long time.
"You see people parking on the grass and it gets very full around here all the time."
Louise Duncalf, 51, a full time carer who also lives in Cotmanhay Road, said: "We walk 20 minutes down the road as we don't want to be involved in all this."
Simon Robinson, headteacher of Cotmanhay Junior School, agreed that parking was an issue.
And he said it was something that was being looked into by officials.
Mr Robinson said: "We've been consulting with local stakeholders through governing bodies to find solutions to this.
"We will work hard to alleviate this problem.
"More parking would be beneficial and there has been the suggestion of bollards on the grass verges, but, to my knowledge, you have to adopt that piece of road to place them, and there would need to be additional monetary input.
"But there are no obvious solutions at this current stage other than working with parents and road users.
"We would encourage all parents to walk with their kids to school, to promote healthy lifestyles and to decrease the parking issue, and we'd encourage all to be mindful of road safety and local residents, and not to park on zig zags or zebra crossings.
"We're all together in supporting parents, and we want our children to be safe while residents are happy."
In the Facebook post, the Ilkeston police officers said parking was a wider problem in the town.
They said: "Whilst we understand that your car is often only there for a few minutes, can we please ask everyone to not park on zig zags, close to junctions and fully on pavements.
"For the safety of children, residents and other road users.
"This appears to be an increasing problem at many schools across Ilkeston."
