Northumberland Gazette readers want to see drivers banned from parking on the pavement

Northumberland Gazette readers have backed a ban on pavement parking

We asked you ‘Should motorists be banned from parking on pavements?’ in our on-line poll.

More than 1,000 people voted on our Facebook page, with 66 per cent saying they backed the plan.

Ray Beam said: “Lots of people have to park partially on the pavement outside their own houses so as to not block the road. Common sense is important. The road needs to be kept clear enough for emergency vehicles to pass but the pavement needs to still have room for prams etc to pass.

Kate Younger siad it was ‘not a simple problem to solve.’

“As someone who’s used a pram, has a mobility scooter and also needs to use a car to visit lots of different places it comes down to not being selfish,” she said.

Lily Ann Dawes said there was a need to keep roads clear: “We are a two car household, out of need.“Our road is used as a cut through from two 'A' roads and is always busy. If we park on the pavement traffic can flow - and we make sure there is plenty of room to get past.”

Helen Fairbairn said it depended on circumstances: “Only when the roads adjacent are wide enough for cars to park wholly on the road or when new builds allow for multiple car parking. Many estates were built at a time when people didn't have or had one car, not three or four per household.”

Darren Hunter believed there was never an excuse for selfish parking: “If ANYONE, pram, zimmer, mobility scooter, or pedestrian, has to walk to the road because of how you've parked you're in the wrong.

Mary Smithson Hewison wrote: “It’s difficult for blind people because they can’t navigate to move away from where the car is,” while Bryony Stimpson highlighted the challenges of living in rural Northumberland: “In our village, if we don't put a wheel on the pavement, the combine harvesters can't get through.”