Police call for 'considerate' parking after fire

Residents have been urged to "park considerately" on narrow streets in Shropshire after a fire engine "faced challenges" accessing a blaze.

The plea from emergency services comes after crews were called to a house fire on St Leonard's Steps, in Bridgnorth, but found accessibility problems on a nearby one-way street.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue said it could "get close enough on this occasion", but it "often faces challenges manoeuvring though narrow streets", and police have asked people to park carefully.

People in Bridgnorth have said they understand the criticism, as they "wouldn't want fires to spread", but argue parking for residents in the High Town is already a challenge.

In response to the incident, West Mercia Police urged the public to "carefully think about where they park, especially in narrow, historic streets".

"Every minute matters in an emergency, and clear access routes can make a critical difference to the outcome," it said in a statement.

The force said it has been trying to tackle "inconsiderate and obstructive parking that prevents emergency services from doing their job".

Ross Downing has regularly visited the town for years, and said he would never consider parking on the side streets.

"To me, it's just courtesy and common sense and I don't really understand the mentality of people who want to park 10 yards away from where they want to be," Downing said.

He added he believes it's a "lazy mentality" and people should park "in an official place and have a slightly longer walk".

However a woman, who did not want to give their name, said she agreed with the fire service's criticism, adding the town is not designed for large modern vehicles of "that size."

"I believe, there are smaller vehicles that are arranged that if it's in this area then maybe they could have a vehicle that's narrower that can cope with the streets," she said.

"At the end of the day, it's a market town."

Marie Hatton has a daughter who lived in High Town with her family, and said it was a "challenge" for them to park.

"They made a conscious decision to park in High Street after five, when it was free and they had to move their car before 8:15am, [which was] when you got charged," Hatton said.

"At weekends, they would park at mine or would be out of town so they absolutely had to think about parking."

She added people should "follow the rules" and only park where they were allowed.

"If it was your house on fire, you would absolutely want an ambulance or fire engine to be able to get to you in a real timely manner."

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