Pensioners say they are"prisoners in their own home" due to parking problems in Holbeck

Raymond and Carol Pitchford used to go out almost every day of the week but say now they are too worried to as they can't get parked anywhere near their house, on Ingram Road at Holbeck, again.

Mr Pitchford, 70, says the issues are being caused by city centre workers using the street, where he has lived for the last 20 years, to park while they go to work.

He says cars line the street and surrounding roads during weekdays, between 8am and 6pm, with one street becoming so tight due to cars being parked on both sides that it has become one way.

Mr Pitchford said: "We daren't move our car, we are like prisoners in our own home. We used to go to the markets - Monday to Morley, Tuesday to Barnsley, Wednesday to Knaresborough and Thursday to Skipton. We used to go out every day but this has got worse over the last 18 months.

"If we do go out, I have to drop my wife, who is disabled at home, and I run around the estate until I find somewhere to park. It could be half an hour's walk away and at 6pm I go to fetch the car back.

"We have just had a fortnight where the kids have been off school and there was only one child playing out because parents daren't let them out because of the amount of cars flying about trying to get parked."

Mr Pitchford says he believes council moves to get cars out of the city for a clean air zone, and parking permits being introduced on nearby streets have shoved the problems onto his street and added that they also get football traffic with fans going to Elland Road at the weekend.

Leeds City Council say that last year the Traffic Engineering team undertook onsite observations of the parking situation within the specific area of Ingram Road and adjacent streets and engineers found whilst there was some on street parking linked to nearby businesses, local residents were able to park directly outside their homes or close by.

A spokesperson added: "We are concerned to hear of the problems that Mr and Mrs Pitchford have been facing in regards to parking on their street and we want to work with them to overcome these concerns.

“We will be contacting them with a view to investigating if either Mr Pitchford or his wife meet the criteria for a disabled parking bay outside their home which may be one way to address the problems. As part of these conversations we will also look at undertaking further surveys of parking in the local area to better understand the extent of the problems raised.”