A woman has been left outraged after she opened her front door to find a van parked on the pavement just 50cm in front of her - and claimed the driver "didn't care" about the inconvenience caused.
Margherita Mecenero, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, said she was due to head to an appointment with her chiropractor when she discovered the vehicle directly outside her house, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports.
And matters were made even worse when she went to get into her car, only to find that another vehicle had blocked her in - meaning she couldn't leave without getting them to move first.
The 47-year-old called out for the driver to move their car so she could get out, but said that it was "almost impossible" for her to make it to her appointment.
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She said: “I opened the door around 10 am to get to my car which was parked in front of the house. Right in front of me, I had this van parked on the pavement. I did not know what to say.
“It was blocking my door so I was like ‘hello’ to see if someone was there because the back of the van was wide open. They are scaffolding two houses away from mine. He parked in front of mine and my neighbour's door, there were other spaces to park.
“After a while, a guy came down and I was like ‘do you think it’s normal to park your van in front of people’s doors like this?’ - he didn’t even care about it.
“There was another car in front of mine so I could not go out. I asked them to move. I eventually managed to go out but it was almost impossible for me to exit.”
Margherita now wants to see local councils do more to stop "crazy" parking by handing out fines to those who make it difficult for others to get out of their homes, as she says her area has had a "problem with traffic" for a long time.
She added: "Parking is crazy, they just park everywhere. People will drive through the pedestrian way if they are going around in order to enter the cul-de-sac. There has been a problem with traffic forever.
“We feel like we are not looked after in this area and no-one cares or respects the people who live here. This example was really extreme because it’s never happened before where it's right outside the door.
“There should be some signs or cameras to say if you park like this you will get fined. The council needs to look after this area a bit better.”
Is it illegal to park on the pavement?
Parking on the pavement is currently illegal in London, but not in the rest of England - although the Department for Transport has been considering making the rest of the country follow the city's example.
In Wales, local authorities should be able to start cracking down on pavement parking this year, while in Scotland, laws were passed in 2019 to put a nationwide ban on pavement parking, but it could take up to five years to fully implement.
Highway Code rule 244 states that drivers "must not park partially or wholly on the pavement in London and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it", and rule 242 says you "must not leave your vehicle or trailer in a dangerous position or where it causes any unnecessary obstruction of the road".
Under rule 244, drivers outside of London are advised not to park on the pavement, but it is not backed up by any legislation.
But under rule 242, if your car is reported or seen by a police officer and judged to be either in a dangerous position or causing an unnecessary obstruction of the road, you could receive a Fixed Penalty Notice.
The RAC says : "Outside of London, we advise people to use common sense when faced with no other option but to park on the pavement.
"If you are parking along a narrow road, where parking wholly on the road would stop other cars, and particularly emergency vehicles, from getting through, then it is a sensible option to park partially on a pavement, providing there are no parking restrictions and providing you are not blocking a wheelchair user or pram from using the pavement.
"If there are restrictions, or your parking would cause wheelchair users or people with prams to have to walk into the road, then you should find somewhere else to park."
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