SELFISH DRIVERS COST FIRE CREW VITAL TIME

CREWS HAVE TO GUIDE ENGINE THROUGH STREETS

Poor parking is blamed as emergency services struggle to respond to town incident

POOR parking cost a fire crew valuable time as they tried to get to an emergency 999 call in Nuneaton.

If the blanket of snow was not enough to contend with, the firefighters had to navigate around badly-parked vehicles in Webb Street in a bid to respond to a flooded home nearby. Such was the severity of the situation, that firefighters had to get out of the engine to help the driver negotiate around vehicles which had been parked near to corners.

It has prompted them to reiterate the message of their hardhitting ‘Park it Right’ campaign, which aims to highlight how irresponsible parking could lead to emergency services not being able to make it to 999 calls in time.

In a post on Twitter, the service said: “When poor parking makes it difficult for us to get through, it could cost our crews valuable time when every second counts.”

The Park it Right campaign was launched in 2016 in a bid to put the brakes on the amount of drivers parking dangerously, potentially blocking access to emergency services like the fire service.

Nuneaton is one of the hotspot areas that the initiative is targeting.

Roland Bailey, station commander, said: “If we can’t get down a street, we cannot get to an emergency.”

He is keen to stress the message behind the Park it Right campaign – to park vehicles right and save a life.

“We have also created a Five Steps to Park it Right guide which should make people more aware of how simple it is to park it right and save a life,” he added.

“Just remember, we could be trying to get to your home or to your friends and family in an emergency, so please don’t stop us doing our very important job.”