'Thoughtless' parking blocks fire engine

Firefighters said they had to find an alternative route because of "thoughtless" parking

Firefighters in the Yorkshire Dales have said "thoughtless" parking blocked their route to an emergency call.

A crew from Bentham Fire Station was called out at 21:33 BST on Saturday to reports of a fire in the open in Upper Settle.

The crew was forced to reverse and find an alternative route through the market town after finding the fire engine could not pass a car parked on a narrow road.

"Every second counts in an emergency," said Jon Darnton, from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

"In a lot of circumstances... minutes and seconds count so the quicker we can get there the better for everybody involved," he added.

"There are a lot more vehicles on the roads now so we do understand that there is a premium for parking," the Craven and Harrogate District group manager added.

He said that the issue was "not a really regular occurrence" but the service had identified certain routes, both urban and rural, which could only be driven by "narrow-track fire engines".

The crew said police were requested to attend to "deal with the parking issue".

North Yorkshire Police has been contacted for comment.

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