Peterborough parked cars delay firefighters on emergency call

Crews have urged drivers to be more considerate when they park

Firefighters say "inconsiderate" parking has caused them problems when responding to emergencies.

Peterborough firefighters were delayed a number of times on Friday evening due to badly parked vehicles.

A Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said crews faced the problem across the county in built-up areas such as Peterborough, Cambridge, Huntingdon and Wisbech.

Crews have urged drivers to be more considerate when they park.

The crew had to find the owner and request the van be moved

A Dogsthorpe Fire Station crew was delayed a number of times due to parked cars on roads in the Millfield area of the city.

The service said many vehicles, in particular a van, were poorly parked, obstructing the fire engine.

Narrow streets

The crew had to find the owner and request the van be moved.

This delayed them by about 10 minutes.

A fire service spokesperson said: "There are narrow streets where vehicles park on both sides of the road which, although legal to do so, does make it much harder for a fire engine to travel along.

"Fortunately, on this occasion the incident turned out to be a false alarm, but at the time we were not to know that.

"The delay caused by the parked vehicles could have resulted in a far more serious incident escalating."

The average fire engine needs about 3m (10ft) of clearance to safely travel along a road.

A fire service spokesperson asked drivers to "please consider this when you park and, if in doubt, find somewhere else to leave your vehicle".