PARENTS have been left furious after council chiefs installed spy cameras to stop them parking outside their kids' school.
Mums and dads were plunged into "mayhem" at Sneyd Academy primary school in Stoke, Staffs., where a new red route now threatens them with £70 fines.
They are fuming that the red lines – prohibiting stopping – mean they can't get close enough to the school to drop off their kids.
And the tough new measures, designed to catch rule-breaking parents, have already started causing “mayhem” days into the new year.
Mum Sadia Begum, 33, said: “It’s an absolute nightmare trying to pick my children up.
"Yesterday I parked on the cul-de-sac I had always used to drop my kids off.
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"I didn’t realise it was prohibited until the residents came out and started attacking me."
She added: “I understand their anger but where can I park? I don’t live nearby so it’s not like I can walk to the school."
Meanwhile, Mario Vasile, who lives two miles away, got beeped at by fed-up drivers as he tried to pick up his son from outside the prohibited red zone.
The 38-year-old raged: “This is the worst idea ever, it’s just chaos.
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"Before people just parked for a second to drop off their kids. Now it takes 20 minutes to find a parking space, drop your child off and get back in the car."
School mum Sammy Brock, 30, added: “It’s ridiculous. I was nearly late yesterday because I couldn’t find a parking space.
“It took my sister-in-law 20 minutes to find somewhere to park, which isn’t fair on the kids.
“Fining parents and making it hard to park isn’t the solution. They should be investing in a car park or a drop off zone so we can collect our kids without the risk of being penalised."
Grandad Anthony Winter, 72, described the scenes outside the school as "bedlam" adding the new red lines have made things "ten times worse".
He said: "Cars can't get near the school – people are swearing and beeping each other.
"It must be the most dangerous school run in the country."
It’s carnage outside our homes. It’s complete gridlock. Our drives are blocked, the road is at a standstill.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council brought in the new traffic rule on Sneyd Street, in Sneyd Green, earlier this month.
It turned the street into a red route which makes it an offence to stop on the red lines with cameras installed to catch drivers between 8.30am and 9.30am and 2.30pm and 3.30pm.
But parents are not the only ones unhappy – with locals on the street insisting the ban has simply pushed the traffic chaos further down the road.
Resident Carol Redford, 49, said: “It’s carnage outside our homes. It’s complete gridlock. Our drives are blocked, the road is at a standstill."
Hannah Pattinson, 36, added: “It’s only been two days and cars have bashed wing mirrors trying to squeeze past.
“Yesterday our car was completely blocked in, so my husband couldn’t leave for work."
Stoke council said the cameras were necessary to ensure pupil safety – and some parents are in support of the new restrictions if it makes the road safer for their kids.
One dad said: “ It’s a pain in the backside but if it stops a kid from being injured by a car, then it’s a good thing."
His partner added: “Yes, it might annoy some parents but it’s safer for the kids – that’s the main thing.”
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Council deputy leader Daniel Jellyman told the Stoke Sentinel: “This red route will address the illegal parking and anti-social behaviour caused by inconsiderate parking close to the school.
"Concerns were raised by the school and local residents and the city council has now taken action.
"We hope this will encourage parents and their children to walk to school in a safer environment, improving their health and well-being”.
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