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Students blamed for Horsforth parking chaos
A leafy Horsforth street has been turned into a chaotic car park by students dodging new parking charges. Click here for full story.
Residents on Lee Lane West in Horsforth claim that selfish learners at nearby Trinity and All Saints College are causing daily motoring misery by flouting the law.
And they are worried it is only a matter of time before a serious accident is caused by drivers parking on pavements, blocking driveways and making the road impassable for larger vehicles.
"Every morning, this narrow residential street is more like a motorway," said resident Helen Longfellow, whose family includes two young children.
"Quite often, we can't get our own cars out of our drives. The students park in long rows along the pavements, which means we have to walk with the children on the road, dodging the traffic.
"This is supposed to be a quiet, leafy residential area, but every day we are faced with a continuous steam of traffic. It's only a matter of time before someone is hurt."
Although Lee Lane West has long been used as a back entrance to the higher education college, the amount of traffic using the road has increased dramatically in recent weeks after Trinity and All Saints introduced car parking charges on its campus.
Since students arrived back for the new academic year in September, they have been forced to pay 20p an hour, or 1 for eight hours, to park on site.
As a result, many have been leaving their cars on nearby streets. The problem has continued despite West Yorkshire Police officers handing out dozens of parking tickets every day, and signs attached to lampposts by the college urging students not to park illegally.
A spokeswoman for the college said a travel plan had been introduced two years ago to encourage students not to use cars. Measures taken to encourage alternatives included discounted bus fares, improved cycle storage and a car share scheme.
"A further initiative to reduce the usage of cars is the introduction of car parking charges," she added.
"Mindful of the potential impact on local residents, Leeds Trinity continues to work with and support the local community in Horsforth.
"We are in continual dialogue with the local authorities in order to encourage the introduction of methods to deter vehicle owners from parking illegally and to prevent obstruction to road users, pedestrians and access to private property."
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Weather for Leeds
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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