Anxious Brentwood residents are demanding action to stop drivers using Seven Arches Road as a free car park before someone is killed.

They claim that cars parked on either side of the entrance of Brentwood County High School are creating havoc, effectively reducing Seven Arches Road to one lane on a winding stretch that contains two blind bends.

And acccording to local people, it's not just parents dropping off their children that are the problem. They insist that many of the cars are left on the road all day while their drivers work in the High Street.

Brentwood Council has tried to deal with the problem in the past, but its attempts to ban parking from the bend opposite Shenfield Common pond have succeeded only in moving the problem further along the road.

Alick Grant, who lives on nearby Hartswood Close and is also a Shenfield Common conservator, insists more has to be done.

He said: "It's even worse than it was before. We now have traffic approaching the High Street round a blind bend and on the wrong side of the road. Drivers can't actually see anything coming until they are in the wrong lane.

"There's already been a number of minor incidents in that area and I am concerned that one day soon there could be a serious accident.

"I am not saying that mums shouldn't pick their children up from school. They obviously have to think about their security. But we need some sort of restriction on all-day parking on that road.

"We need common sense to prevail. We don't want to have to wait until there is a fatality."

The residents' concern is shared by Brentwood Council, which has won police support for plans to extend the parking ban right back as far as the railway bridge.

Dave Marchant, deputy chief executive of the council and director of technical services, said: "There certainly appears to be more vehicles there than before, and I would agree that the parking on that bend needs to be addressed."

The council's technical services committee is due to discuss the problem after Christmas.

Fatality fears: Campaigner Alick Grant is calling for new parking restrictions on Seven Arches Road, amid fears that congestion could cause a serious accident.

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