Illegal parking 'gridlocks' village for rail event

Crowds flocked to Grosmont to see the Flying Scotsman

More than 20 motorists were fined after a village was left "gridlocked" due to illegal parking during a popular railway event.

Spectators and passengers flocked to Gromsont on Saturday to see the world famous Flying Scotsman.

Due to limited parking in the area, some people resorted to parking their vehicles on double yellow lines, resulting in 23 fines being handed out by the council.

North Yorkshire Police said two busses were also unable to get through due to the cars blocking the road, which left one bus stuck and caused further traffic disruption.

Tracy, 56, said when she arrived in the village to board the train with her husband they were stuck in traffic for about 20 minutes.

"The whole village was gridlocked, we only just made it to get on the train," she said.

"There were people parked on double yellow lines, there were people parked on grass verges, it was absolute chaos."

She added it was thanks to a helpful parking attendant who saw their blue badge that they could finally find a space.

"We literally got on the train with two minutes to spare but it was by the skin of our teeth," Tracy said.

"If anyone in that little village had needed an ambulance or a fire engine, they wouldn't have been able to get through."

The event attracted spectators as well as passengers boarding the train

Karl Battersby, North Yorkshire Council's corporate director for environment, said Grosmont was one of the regular parking patrol spots in the county.

"We have visited Grosmont 54 times since April this year, so this wasn't a targeted campaign by us because we knew the site was busy," he said.

"As we would anywhere else, we issued what we call PCNs, parking tickets where vehicles were parked illegally, and all of those that we issued were either a breach of single yellow lines and double yellow lines.

"We issued 23 in total as part of that visit."

Mr Battersby said it was unfortunate the council had to take action but hoped people would learn to park more respectfully when they next visited.

"We put parking restrictions in place to ensure that there's appropriate visibility at junctions, traffic can get through a village and people can use the footpaths to stay out of the road," he added.

"When people park and block the pavement with their vehicle, they're forcing pedestrians into the road and therefore potentially causing a safety hazard."

'Key routes'

Police confirmed a PCSO was in attendance at the scene and left leaflets on window screens, as well as arranging four traffic offence reports.

A force spokesperson said: "While we understand why people were drawn to a beautiful part of North Yorkshire at the weekend, the obstruction caused by some parking led to complaints from the public.

"We'd remind drivers visiting rural communities that people do live and work there.

"What may seem like smaller roads can actually be key routes between villages, used by buses, ambulances, tractors and other larger vehicles.

"So when you're visiting you must park considerately and legally at all times, which includes not parking on double yellow lines or across people's drives."

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