Newcastle parent driving drop-off ban hailed a success

Lemington Riverside Primary School was one of the schools taking part in the trial

A day-long road closure outside three Newcastle primary schools has been hailed as a success by a head teacher.

Through traffic and parking were banned outside schools in Gosforth, Arthur's Hill, and Lemington, aimed at stopping streets being clogged by parents' cars.

It was part of new measures by the city council to cut air pollution and make it safer for children to walk or cycle.

Newcastle City Council said it would be looking at feedback from the scheme to develop future plans.

The three sites were all named among an initial 11 schools to take part in a "school streets" programme announced in March.

However, this was put on hold after some councillors expressed "unease" about the road closures at a time when the pandemic had led more people to use private cars over public transport.

The road closures, between 08:00 and 16:00 BST, followed a one-day trial at Chillingham Road Primary last month.

'Three-point turns'

Clare Clougher, head teacher at Grange First School in Gosforth described Thursday's closure as a "resounding success", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

She added: "I thought it was brilliant - I have been really concerned about the road outside the school.

"I have had to go out on quite a few occasions to ask parents not to park on the pavement.

"There are people doing three-point turns, reversing on to pavements, I have had to grab a child before as a car came up the kerb.

"The change on Thursday was incredible, it just felt so calm and safe."

She added: "I hope it can be a permanent solution.

"Yes, there should be some feedback from residents and from parents now, but I think let's put this in place for a term and see what happens."

A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: ["The council is] working together with schools and communities to ... supports and reflects people's needs and priorities.

"The feedback and evidence from these trials is being used as we continue to develop our longer-term plans."