Maidenhead & Windsor

A Maidenhead Resident is calling for action to be taken against drivers whose haphazard and illegal parking puts lives at risk.

Tim Boissaud-Cooke said this week: "It is only a matter of time before someone is injured because of an illegally parked car or lorry."

Among the abuses he highlights are Maidenhead motorists parking in loading bay areas forcing lorry drivers to mount the pavement when they park in the east side of Queen Street.

He said: "On occasions I have seen mothers with pushchairs forced to walk in the road because there was insufficient space for them to pass between the trucks and shop fronts."

Mr Boissaud-Cooke, who lives in Clare Road, Maidenhead, works as a sound recorder on the hit BBC TV series Holby City.

He said: "I have a period of a fortnight between recording sessions and during these periods I have noticed the building up of traffic problems in the town."

Married with two grown-up children, Mr Boissaud-Cooke said that drivers visiting Maidenhead town centre chose to park in restricted areas - often with scant regard for for the allocated periods. They often park there past the half an hour that is allowed, sometimes as long as an hour.

Mr Boissaud-Cooke said this worsened the congestion caused by the bus stop at the junction of Providence Place and the High Street.

He said Queen Street and the east end of the High Street, Maidenhead and St Ives Road seem to be the worst affected.

Mr Biosssaud-Cooke said that drivers leave their cars on double yellow lines in Clare Road, Kings Grove and Laburnham Road.

He siad: "This blocks the view of pedestrians and make it hazardous when they are trying to cross the road."

Antony Wood, Maidenhead royal borough lead member for traffic and transport said: "At the moment parking in the centre of Maidenhead is essentially a police matter.

"The only way this could change is if the borough took on responsibiliy for enforcing parking, which would mean parking would have to be decriminalised."

ic Berkshire ~ Maidenhead