A hotel manager, the head teacher and neighbours of a busy primary school are pleading for drivers to be considerate when taking children to and from school.

Parking issues have caused such problems that the head teacher of Blakehill Primary School, in Idle, has even called police following complaints from neighbours. Residents have contacted councillors and MP David Ward about the problem. Now a nearby hotel and pub, which lets parents use the 14 spaces in its car park, has publicly joined the drive to stop inconsiderate parking.

Staff got short shrift when asking parents not to use the car park during a funeral this week.

Hotel workers later posted a message on social media website Twitter which said:”Our staff getting abuse from school parents who we’ve asked not to park in our private car park which we're keeping clear for customers.”

The Highfield staff say they recognise the issue is with a minority and want to still let parents park, but are pleading for them to take notice when they put up their ‘customers only’ parking sign. Joint manager of The Highfield, in Highfield Road, Anney Jennings, said “the last straw” came when an angry parent called the hotel during a wake on Tuesday. A member of staff had stood outside for 45 minutes asking parents to park elsewhere and been told by one parent that they “could park where they liked.”

Miss Jennings said: “The last straw was the lady who rang up. She was just really rude. She said she wanted to complain.”

She added: “She said, ‘I’m one of the parents at the school.’ She said she’d not been able to park.

“I told her it’s a private car park to start with and we had a funeral on with 150 people. She just said something like ‘well I don’t find it acceptable. You should let the school know to give parents warning.’ “We don’t want to say, ‘you can’t park here’. We’re trying to be considerate.”

Head teacher Trevor Patterson said the 420-pupil school, which is opposite Idle fire station, regularly sent parents letters about parking and had called police who had issued fines.

“It’s a regular occurrence where we get neighbours ringing up saying, ‘can you do something about this?’”

He said parents were encouraged to walk children to school, but recognised that many would drop pupils off on their way to work. People living on nearby North Edge Meadow, a cul-de- sac, said they have to plan their lives around the school’s opening and closing times. One, who asked not to be named, said parents could be abusive when asked to move. He added: “We organise it so we don’t have to come home at the end of the school day. I work shifts – if the school’s finishing, I’ll park in Idle and wait.”