Parents and guardians on the school run have been parking illegally on the double yellow and zig-zag lines outside Hermitage Primary School whilst waiting to collect their children – leading to twice-daily congestion and potentially dangerous crossing conditions for pupils.

Valerie Wheeler, who lives in a block of flats opposite the East Argyle Street school, said parents had been double parking on both sides of the road and had even tried to park in private spaces outside her door by driving down the narrow close between her building and neighbouring flats. She added: “It’s a huge problem because there’s such a huge amount of cars. They have no consideration for each other.” Although Argyll and Bute Council employs parking wardens, issues such as double parking should be dealt with by the police if drivers are causing an obstruction.

A spokeswoman for the local authority said: “The council is not aware of this being a significant problem but will investigate and undertake enforcement if necessary.” Helensburgh Central councillor Aileen Morton, the council’s policy lead for education, said little can be done to provide more parking spaces. She called on parents to park further away and walk to the school to ease the congestion. She added: “Whilst it’s disappointing if parents are parking irresponsibly at school pick up times, I think it needs to be remembered that Hermitage Primary has the largest roll of any primary school in Argyll and Bute and it is only a tiny minority of parents who park like this.” Preferred break Another neighbour said he watched parents abandoning cars in private parking spaces outside his door, and added he had not seen any traffic wardens dealing with the problem.

He told the Advertiser: “Around four years ago I got a ticket for parking on the street outside but I haven’t seen that since. People have come down here to park and they’re not just parking their cars, they’re abandoning them.” Although Argyll and Bute Council employs parking wardens, issues such as double parking should be dealt with by the police if drivers are causing an obstruction.

A spokeswoman for the local authority said: “The council is not aware of this being a significant problem but will investigate and undertake enforcement if necessary.” In response, a spokeswoman for Police Scotland urged drivers to park ‘safely and considerately’. She added: “We would urge parents not to park immediately outside the school gates, even for a short period of time, as this presents a significant risk to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists as well as creating congestion.

“Please leave extra time for your journey to school and always park safely, even if this means leaving your car a short distance from the school and walking the final part of your journey.” Parents and guardians claimed they are concerned for the safety of the children attending the school.

Helensburgh man Justin Spalding said the situation had become ‘a big problem’. He added: “I was sent to pick up my sister, she doesn’t take care when crossing the road.

“It would be really bad if there was an accident but I haven’t got any idea what the council could do. They could try and use some of the grass areas I suppose because they have got a quite a lot and they could try and turn them into parking spaces.” Samantha Fordyce, who was walking her son home from school, added: “I have seen people staying here from twenty past two trying to get a parking space, it shouldn’t be happening.

“Sometimes my son will be waiting for the lollipop lady but if he sees me across the road he’ll just run across and he won’t pay attention to cars driving around here.” Philip MacDonald, chairman of Hermitage Primary School’s Parent Council, said he believed it was an isolated problem. He added: “I know that the head teacher has come out on several occasions and asked parents to move on and the parent council realises that teaching staff need to be focused on teaching rather than policing the area.” Cllr Morton added: “The school has worked with the council’s road safety officer to try to address the issue and a significant number of pupils do walk to school.

“I’ve been advised that a number of children also scooter to school and funding has recently been provided for scooter racks. I would hope that in future parents will work with the school to ensure a safe environment for all pupils and local residents.”