Fed-up residents use wheelie bin blockade to keep out school-run parents

Residents set up a barricade using wheelie bins in protest at their road continuously being used by parents during school-run times. (Reach)
Residents set up a barricade using wheelie bins in protest at their road continuously being used by parents during school-run times. (Reach) (Reach)

Furious residents set up a wheelie-bin blockade to stop parents clogging up their road during the school run.

Homeowners on Halton Place in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, say they have had enough of parents parking across their driveways while waiting for students from Cleethorpes Academy and decided to make their point known with a protest.

At the end of the school day, they gathered and placed wheelie bins across the road, delaying children leaving school because of the obstruction to the public highway.

The school had been using the access on to the road to implement a one-way system during the coronavirus pandemic for use by children in years 7 and 8 – and say it will continue to be used to keep children safe.

But one resident said she had lived on Halton Place for 23 years and was exasperated by the number of times she had not been able to get out of her home.

Residents on Halton Place in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, say they have had enough of parents parking across their driveways. (Reach)
Residents on Halton Place in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, say they have had enough of parents parking across their driveways. (Reach) (Reach)

She said: "We understood that the emergency access gate for the school had to be used during the pandemic and it was to keep everyone safe. But now they want to use it permanently and we are just not having it…

"We get parents parking across our driveway. We have to organise our lives around school times.”

Another resident added: "We have to put up with a lot when it is school time. There are a lot who ride their bikes on the pavement.

“If you say anything you get abuse.”

Croft Baker ward councillor Bob Callison attended the blockade in support of the residents.

He said: "There are many round here who are elderly and they can't get out of their homes or get the home helps they need.

"It is not easy for them when students leave en masse and head along the pavements and fill the road.

“The residents are letting people walk along the road but there won't be any cars coming through to pick up children."

The protest caused disruption for parents who arrived to pick up their children.

One parent of a child with special needs said: "It was chaos. They were out of order doing that. There is a pandemic on…

“I don't block anyone's drive. It needs sorting."

The protest delayed children leaving school because of the obstruction to the public highway. (Reach)
The protest delayed children leaving school because of the obstruction to the public highway. (Reach) (Reach)

Janice Hornby, Cleethorpes Academy principal, told Grimsby Live she was disappointed in the residents' action.

She said discussions have been held previously with councillors and that they are keen to find a solution for both residents and the Academy, but insists the access will still be used by children.

She added: "Government restrictions regarding bubble groups and staggered start and finish times necessitated the opening of the Halton Place entrance…

“We are exceptionally disappointed that the residents of Halton Place and a local councillor have taken this action as it has caused considerable disruption to the Academy and has caused distress to students.”

Hornby said the Halton Place entrance will continue to be used despite the protest.

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