PARENTS dropping off their children at a Clacton school are causing problems on a major road into town.

Councillors have asked Essex County Highways steps up enforcement around London Road, which serves White Hall Academy.

Bruff ward councillor Andy Pemberton has said parents also regularly park on the zigzag lines outside the school on Melbourne Road causing a hazard.

Fellow UKIP councillor Mark Stephenson has also contacted Essex County Council demanding action.

Staff from the North East Parking Partnership (NEPP), which involves both Tendring District and Essex County Council, have been patrolling the sites.

Since term started last month, they have issued seven penalty charge notices to motorists in Thomas Road, but none on Melbourne Road.

“NEPP has been working with Tendring Council to patrol the area and enforce parking restrictions. There is some anti-social, but otherwise legal, parking which cannot be enforced,” said a NEPP spokesman.

“With the history of parking complaints in the vicinity of Whitehall Academy, NEPP will continue to work with Tendring Council to maintain patrols in the area and will keep the situation under review,” he added.

Parking has long been a problem around the school, leading to meetings between White Hall Academy School, Essex County Council, parents and councillors.

Problems were set to get worse when the new owner of a piece of land the school uses to gain access to a car park was to deny them access to it.

This term, White Hall Academy has issued repeated warnings to parents in its newsletters.

Essex County Council is studying what future solutions might be feasible, though the school accepts any solution may be a long time coming.

“As a school we have taken legal advice over the car park on the field and we continue to use this in order to relieve the amount of cars parking around the school boundary,” said Head of Academy Gavin Bradley.

“This remains a very difficult problem to solve and one which the school has very little control over other than appealing to our parents to be as considerate as they can be,” he added.