Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Action must be taken

The firefighters of Cricklade fire station deserve to be congratulated for taking direct action to expose the anti-social and dangerous parking which occurs outside St Sampson’s Primary School, “Uproar over vehicle parked at fire station” (SA March 13 2018).

This report gave a clear account of two opposing sides of human nature. On one side we have the firefighters who are prepared to put their lives at risk to save others, and on the other we have selfish individuals.

Several months ago the Swindon Advertiser gave a warning that dangerous and illegal parking by drivers on the school run could result in loss of life.

Despite firefighters telling the driver of the white Mercedes she was not allowed to park there she refused to move because she “didn’t want to walk a long way to collect her children”.

The photograph accompanying this report says it all. It shows yellow hatched lines with large “KEEP CLEAR” signage, there are double yellow lines adjacent to the road and a sign on the fence which says “STRICTLY NO PARKING”. How many more clues does this individual require before she realises she shouldn’t be parked there?

The majority of the public realise parking rules and regulations exist to make our roads safer and improve accessibility. After being posted on social media this incident went viral within an hour and there was widespread support for the firefighters from members of the public.

Inconsiderate parking is a persistent problem. It is particularly problematic at locations affected by the school run. I suggest bad parking habits have escalated over a long period of time because successive authorities have failed to take adequate action to address the situation. It has been easier for them to turn a blind eye to this ongoing problem instead of taking the proactive action required to resolve it.

By failing to enforce traffic regulations, the authorities have become complicit in promoting the poor driving attitudes which have been adopted by ignorant, stupid, lazy, selfish and arrogant individuals. These people have no concern about parking illegally or creating obstructions and inconvenience for others because they know they can get away with it. Children are supposed to attend school so they can be educated and taught to be good citizens. What sort of lessons are they learning from parents who persistently break the law?

We are living in an age with sophisticated technology. We have camera systems with number plate recognition. The authorities have no excuse for their failure to address this.

Mr K Kane, Wharf Road, Wroughton

Give them tickets

The selfish actions of the person who parked outside Cricklade fire station should not go unpunished. Get a warden in there for a couple of days to issue tickets, and that would help the situation.

G PARKER, Stratton St Margaret