Residents of Rodbourne Cheney have spoken out about a number of traffic and parking issues which are blighting the area, with pedestrians and motorists left unsafe.

An overload of traffic and lack of parking in the area has caused vehicles to travel partially mounted on pavements, drivers to park in unsafe spots and cyclists to occupy pedestrian walkways.

The problems are concentrated around The Broadway, where a swathe of housing refurbishments and busy school times have combines to leave local residents struggling to use their roads.

One of the most serious concerns relates to cars being forced to drive on the pavements to get around parked vehicles.

Des Moffatt, a Labour councillor for Rodbourne Cheney, said: “There is a part of The Broadway where multiple parking by parents dropping children off at Rodbourne Cheney [Primary] School means some others are mounting the kerb and driving along there at speed.

“I’ve tried to persuade council officials to prevent cars from mounting pavements at speed there.

“Officials say that we are not going to put bollards there because if they did, that they would have to put them in all over Swindon.”

A spate of house sales has fuelled the problem, said Mick Lucas, a parish councillor for the Rodbourne Cheney ward: “There have been a number of bungalows sold on The Broadway.”

“What we are getting are people, because there are not enough spaces around, people parking half on the pavement and half on the road.

“So people have moved in and their houses need updating, so they have had lorries coming down with gravel or whatever and they are struggling to get down The Broadway.

“The other problem is people parking their cars close to or on the corner of junctions.

“There is going to be an accident sooner or later and that is the way of life at the minute, because most people just don’t have enough parking spaces.”

Cyclists were also being impacted, he said, which was causing further problems for pedestrians: “People are using the pavement to cycle along because the roads are a bit dangerous and narrow.

“The problem is that on the pavement they think they can cycle 15 to 20 miles per hour but they don’t have a bell to warn people.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “We have carried out an initial assessment of the parking issues at The Broadway, and will be returning during school term-time to assess the impact when the traffic levels are higher.”