PARENTS who park illegally on a busy road to drop off and collect their children from a Halesowen primary school will be issued with £60 fines in a campaign to improve safety.

Police have agreed to increase patrols of Huntingtree Road after a councillor warned “there was an accident waiting to happen.”

Cllr Ken Turner, who lives in the road, said parents often parked too close to road junctions which created safety hazards for other motorists and pedestrians.

He said he had also asked the police to crackdown on speeding traffic along the road and has called for parking restrictions, which he said would encourage parents to leave their cars at home and walk the short distance to and from the school.

He added that there were perennial parking problems caused by inconsiderate parents in Bournes Hill and in the roads around Lutley Primary and, to a lesser extent, around Caslon Primary.

Cllr Turner said that as a new governor at Caslon, he would be presenting ideas to encourage more children to walk to school at the next governors’ meeting.

He added that a bid to create a 16-space car park on the south west section of Huntingtree Park could help to alleviate parking problems outside Huntingtree Primary School.

He and fellow Hayley Green and Cradley South councillors Hazel Turner and Ray Burston have secured a £25,000 grant from a pot of money given by developers for community schemes to build the car park and a planning application is expected to be submitted to Dudley Council’s planning department shortly.

Huntingtree headteacher Stevie Parkes was unaware of any recent complaints about parking in Huntingtree Road and said previous complaints had usually focused on Bournes Hill.

“When we do have complaints we remind parents to park responsibly through our newsletter. If the problem persists we contact the police and their presence will temporarily reduce the problem,” she added.

Sergeant Kevin Jones, for Hawne and Halesowen Town said motorists causing obstruction around the primary schools would be advised about their parking or issued with fines.