RESIDENTS forced to put up with perils caused by commuters' cars have urged the council to consider their case amid a crackdown on “dangerous” parking in the town centre.

Families in Wilsham Road in Abingdon want to deter ticket-dodging workers who squeeze into their street every weekday, allegedly blocking emergency service access and compromising children’s safety.

It comes after Oxfordshire County Council agreed last week to paint double yellow lines in Thames View to tackle “dangerous commuter parking”, at a meeting in which principal parking engineer David Tole stressed a “lack of a proper holistic commuter parking strategy” in Abingdon and said other areas in the town may also be reviewed.

Abingdon Town Council leader Mike Badcock said Wilsham Road next to the River Thames was among the worst-affected roads for commuter clogging.

He said: “There isn't commuter parking really in Abingdon. We have encouraged shoppers with free two-hour parking in the town centre car parks, but not people who have to drive to work.

“At the moment spaces in the multi-storey car park are too small and people are scraping and denting their cars.

“There has got to be a solution for everybody. The county council need to come up with a constructive scheme that will work.”

A resident who has lived in Wilsham Road for 50 years, who did not want to be named, said her beloved view of the river had been replaced with that of “Wilsham Road Car Park”.

She added: “It's absolutely terrible. We really struggle to get out of the driveway - something needs to be done.

"People have got to work and I feel sorry for them in a way. I would probably do the same thing if I were young."

Her husband suggested using timed restrictions rather than a blanket ban, adding: "I don't want to stop anybody parking here and having a little picnic, it's a lovely view. But not those who park here from 8am until 6pm."

"I am mainly concerned about the ambulances and fire engines getting through."

Mum-of-three Stephanie Holland, who lives round the corner in Andersey Way, said the line of bumper-to-bumper cars meant four-year-old son Noah struggled to ride his bike.

The 39-year-old bar manager said: "That stretch is awful, it's so dangerous.

“People used to park there to go fishing or have a picnic and now it's taken up by commuters. You can see them getting out of their cars in their suits and walking into town because the cost of parking in the centre."

Abingdon East county councillor Alison Rooke admitted there was a risk that restrictions would simply shift the problem elsewhere, but added: “In Thames View it was extremely unsafe having cars on both sides of the road where emergency services wouldn't be able to get through.

“With cars parked on the pavement a lot of people with buggies and people pushing wheelchairs to Bridge House Care Home were forced to walk into the road.”