Parking considerately

Motorists are urged to take care when parking their vehicles so they do not prevent our fire engines from attending potentially life-threatening emergencies.

There are some areas around the county that are notorious for motorists parking down both sides of a narrow street and there have been times when fire engines haven't been able to get past at all. This of course can cause us a significant delay in responding to emergencies where someone's life could be at risk and our attendance time is crucial.

This is a growing problem due in part to increasing car ownership, reduced or unused resident parking areas, traffic calming schemes and thoughtless parking by some motorists. The problem can be compounded at night and during the school pick-up and drop-off times.

The average fire engine is 2.6 metres (nine feet) wide and 8 metres (26 feet) long - when you park your vehicle in a narrow street, always check you have left enough room for a fire engine to get past.

Watch out video below to see how inconsiderate parking can slow us down.