Middlesbrough Council's £4m 'ravaged grass verge' cost

Sometimes residents had no option but to park on grass verges, councillors were told

Sorting out churned-up grass verges due to cars being parked on them could cost more than £4m, councillors in Middlesbrough have been told.

Households with more than one car and the area's historically narrow streets were blamed for exacerbating problems on the road network.  

One councillor said it was so bad in his area there had been "stand offs" between parked cars and buses. 

Another said people were frustrated by the bad condition of the verges.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said council reports showed there were 328 outstanding requests for action on verges, which would cost a total of £4,412,600 to sort out

There were calls for extra parking spaces, or for verges to be protected with bollards and other measures.

'Vehicle damage'

However, the environment and infrastructure scrutiny panel heard that the budget to sort out rutted verges was only £150,000, and some of the worst-hit stretches could be waiting until 2024 to be sorted out.

Council officer Chris Bates said: "Residents, within reason, insist on parking on verges because they want front door access, there's fear of vehicle damage and a lack of parking for their own property.

"Sometimes they've got no other option because parking on the road will cause an obstruction."

Councillor David Coupe said there had been problems in his Stainton and Thornton ward with stand-offs between cars and buses as more people moved into the area. 

The panel heard tools the council had at its disposal to tackle the problem included local pavement parking bans, and Community Protection Notices, with motorists made to pay for damage they cause if they fail to heed the first two warnings given.