Surrey County Council (SCC) says national legislation must change if councils are to tackle dangerous pavement parking effectively — following a call from Surrey Heath MP Al Pinkerton for tougher local action.

Mr Pinkerton wrote to SCC highways cabinet member Cllr Matt Furniss urging the authority to improve enforcement, particularly around schools. He warned that the safety of children, residents with disabilities and older people was being put at risk by irresponsible parking.

“Residents tell me time and again how dangerous pavement parking has become, particularly around schools,” he said. “Young children, older people and disabled residents are being forced into busy roads, and that is unacceptable. We need clearer signs, a review of enforcement patterns, and targeted awareness campaigns to keep our streets safe for everyone.”

In its response, SCC acknowledged residents’ concerns but stressed that its powers are limited. At present, only police can enforce pavement parking outside London unless waiting restrictions are already in place.

An SCC spokesperson said: “We recognise the problems caused by antisocial pavement parking and try to tackle the problem either through enforcement where possible or the use of parking restrictions as part of our parking review process.

“However, crucially we think that changes are needed at a national level. In 2019/20 the Government carried out a consultation on new laws that could reduce problems caused by pavement parking. We fully supported an option to introduce a new offence called ‘unnecessary pavement obstruction’, which could be enforced by our own officers without the need for a traffic regulation order. This would help us to manage this problem more effectively across the varied communities in Surrey in combination with our policies to help promote more sustainable modes of transport.”

The Department for Transport has not yet published the outcome of its consultation.