Here’s one for the Mancunian civic pride file: a poll published this week suggests that you are more likely to come across on-pavement parking in Manchester than in any other UK city.
The poll, commissioned by charity Guide Dogs, asked residents of 10 cities across England and Wales how often they came across cars parked on the pavement.
Manchester topped the list of cities surveyed, with 61 per cent of respondents said that there were often cars parked on the pavement on the street where they live. Unsurprisingly the tighter parking restrictions make cars on pavements a rarer sight in the city centre – but even there, 39 per cent said that they often or always experience the problem.
Here’s the list of ten cities in full, ranging from most to least prevalent in the pavement parking league table:
1. Manchester
2. Liverpool
3. Cambridge
4. Cardiff
5. Birmingham
6. Sheffield
7. Newcastle
8. Bristol
9. Leeds
10. Southampton
Even in sunny Southampton, though, just 37 per cent of those surveyed said that cars were regularly parked in the residential streets around them, and 27 per cent in the city centre.
The poll came on the eve of a parliamentary debate which proposes to introduce new restrictions on pavement parking.
“Badly parked cars are forcing people living with sight loss to step out into the road and putting them in danger just because people park on pavements,” said a Guide Dogs representative. Just four out of ten surveyed considered the ability of pedestrians to get past their vehicle as important when deciding to park.
For the record, pavement parking has been banned in London for 40 years – save for certain loading and other allowances.
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