Parking spaces too small for cars after council spends £265,000 resurfacing road

Embarrassed council chiefs have vowed to repaint the road markings in a busy town centre, after workmen made them too narrow for cars to park in.

Bungling workmen in Goole, East Yorkshire, accidentally painted a series of parallel parking spaces 5.5ft wide as part of a £265,000 re-surfacing scheme.

But they were left red-faced after it was revealed the top brass at East Riding of Yorkshire Council had requested a width of 6.5ft for the road, which had recently undergone eco-friendly repair works.

The British Parking Association states there is a minimum width of 5.11ft required for on-street parallel parking, meaning the new lines fell woefully below the required standards.

So tight were the spaces that some motorists even resorted to parking on the kerb to ensure their vehicles fit between the lines.

The town’s mayor Anthony Raspin called for the freshly marked parking spaces to be resized after locals complained about the size of the spaces.

Workmen will now have to burn off the markings and repaint them, forcing another road closure on Wednesday.

Andie Appleyard, who works in Pasture Road where the markings were laid, said: ‘I think it just sums Goole up and everything they do at the moment. They never do it correctly, it’s all a bit of a rush job.

‘Someone complains about potholes and they’ve solved that situation, but then they’ve made another job for themselves.

‘And we’re just ploughing money into ridiculous jobs when there’s a lot of other things it could be going towards.’

The road was resurfaced on November 1 as part of a trial for environmentally friendly methods for repairing roads in the county, championed by council chiefs.

It was one of two schemes costing around £265,000 using a product developed by Tarmac that incorporates granulated rubber from recycled tyres.

Andie added that it was off-putting for motorists who were confused by parked cars poking out of the bays and fearing their road space was reduced.

Town Mayor Anthony Raspin went down and measured the spaces himself and told locals on social media: ‘Pasture Road has just had its makeover and looks great.

‘But I have been down with my tape measure and the bays area are 1.72m, which is less than the guidelines. The average car is wider than that.

‘The local traffic wardens are aware and said as long as people park sensibly and as close to the bays as possible, they should not get a ticket.

‘It is unfair to the shops down Pasture Road losing customers because people don’t want to park there.

‘It is also unfair for people to get a ticket if the spaces are smaller than the average car.

‘It will have to be rectified, the council are aware of it and we are on with getting it changed.’

An East Riding of Yorkshire Council spokesman said: ‘We investigated the size of parking spaces at this location and they fall slightly short of that guide width.

‘We will therefore carry out work to change the widths of these spaces to 2m and are due to do this on Wednesday 27 November under a road closure.

‘Thank you to residents for bearing with us while we rectify this situation. Drivers can park as normal and no parking fines will be issued in the meantime.’

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