Sheffield Parking: Drivers handed 'tickets' by Westways pupils as action on parking outside schools launched

Motorists parking outside a Sheffield primary school returned to their cars to a surprise, as the latest scheme to stop dangerous parking was launched.

Drivers who had parked close to Westways Primary School on Western Road, Crookes, found they had been issued with a parking ticket.

But these were not just normal parking tickets. They were red or green leaflets, designed by pupils at the school, and slapped on the windscreens by children. There was no fine.

It was the start of a scheme called Good/Bad Parking, which is set to be rolled out to schools all across the city.

The year six youngsters at Westway who were taking the role of traffic wardens, accompanied by council officers and South Yorkshire Police community support officers, gave out green tickets to those who had parked well. Those who parked badly, or dangerously, were handed a red ticket.

At least one motorist, handed red, apologised and moved their car.

Michelle Dwaine, a community development worker for Sheffield Council, said concerns about inappropriate parking had been raised around some schools in the south west of the city. She has worked with children at Westways to show them how to identify and understand bad parking.

Youngsters created 'polite parking notices', given to motorists parked around the school at picking up time. She said she would be running a similar scheme at Ecclesall Primary School early in the new year.

She said she thought it was likely it would be rolled out across the city, raising awareness of the parking issues and getting the children to help.

She said: "One person's just said 'I'm sorry for parking here'. They got a parking notice saying 'I don't feel safe, please park elsewhere', and they've actually moved their car.

"The ones that have parked safely, they've knocked on the window and given them a nice ticket saying 'thank you for making me feel safe'".

Westways teacher, Teri Drayton, said the action would be repeated. She said: "We've had 21 of our children who have volunteered to help out in the community, and they have absolutely loved it.

"Some of our children had some spare tickets left over. and they were very keen to find out if this was something we were going to do again."

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