Parking at school gates

I have been approached on a number of occasions over the last couple of weeks about the potential dangers and shear inconvenience caused to close by residents and pedestrians by parents dropping and collecting their kids at school from vehicles. In the quest to get as close to the school gate as possible it seems that all regard to safety of others, the Highway Code and simple respect and manners are forgotten. This apparently is a generic problem across the country and some Councils are taking a very severe attitude to parents who continually flaunt the safety guidelines. Cameras in cars are being trialed so that evidence can be recorded for prosecutions and in some areas the Safer Neighbourhood Team are acting as traffic controllers to discourage parents from parking whilst they await their kids at the end of school time. In Christchurch we do patrol and we do take a dim view of people who park indiscriminately causing problems of safety and preventing access to local properties. I do not advocate the use of cameras but do recommend that if this is a problem in your area you should make it an issue through your local PACT meeting. Your local CPSO has powers to deal with the problem and together with your CPO should be able to deal with the matter.Our own Community Environment Officers have the power to issue tickets in extreme cases and have been instrumental in improving problem areas.