A woman was left gobsmacked after opening her front door on the way to her chiropractor to find a white van parked just 50cm away on the pavement.
Margherita Mecenero, 47, was dumbfounded by the vehicle directly outside her home in Stoke-on-Trent. After calling out for the driver, he eventually apologised and moved the van.
Margherita says the cul-de-sac has been plagued with problem parkers ever since she moved in four years ago, StokeonTrentLive reports. The bet365 employee is now calling on Stoke-on-Trent City Council to dish out fines for people who park inconsiderately.
She told StokeonTrentLive: “I opened the door around 10am 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.”
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.”
Margherita has spoken out as rules surrounding pavement parking could change in England as the system is currently under review by the Department of Transport following a consultation into people’s views on the issue. It is said that the department is ‘actively considering’ a ban in England.
At the moment parking on the pavement is only illegal in London, but a new ban would cover the whole of England.. Drivers can currently park on the pavement, however, it is illegal to drive on one.
