DISABLED residents of a Wrexham housing estate have taken a stand against thoughtless parkers who leave them feeling ‘like prisoners in their own homes’.

It was exclusively reported by the Leader on Thursday that fed-up residents in Thomas Court planned to chain off their road to stop parents blocking driveways and footpaths when picking up children at nearby Ysgol Bodhyfryd.

Mark Stephens blocked off the entrance to the street – which is home to a number of elderly and disabled people – at around 2.30pm ahead of parents arriving to leave their cars and collect children and kept the barrier in place for almost an hour.

The Leader:

Residents are fed up of irresponsible parkers in Thomas Court... so chained off the street

He told the Leader that something needs to be done as it is getting worse month by month as people feel like prisoners in their own home when people block off access to and from their houses.

Mark, who lives on neighbouring Monger Road, said: “We are like prisoners in our own homes. We have been asking the council to sort out the inconsiderate parking now for a while now as drivers have been blocking the pavement and when we ask them to move, we are met with abuse.

The Leader:

“If they parked with consideration for the people that live here, we would not have as big of a grievance about it. Some residents rely on wheelchairs and, when the pavement is blocked, they are taking their lives into their hands and forced into using the road.”

Mark added that the council have also been approached about implementing traffic calming measures as he describes the turn-in to the street ‘as a racetrack’ with speeding parents rushing to drop children off in the mornings and worries that there will be an accident one day.

The Leader:

He continued: “We gave a weeks’ notice to residents that the sign would be going up and it has been quiet that this has had a result. We had a very good response off people passing by and people living on the estate.”

Mr Stephens, 56, has said that the chain will be going up again with little to no notice if the problem continues to blight the street.

Wheelchair-bound Mark Williams lives on Thomas Court and the 57-year-old, who suffers from cerebral palsy, needs support from carers, yet they have found themselves regularly unable to get near to his home during school pick-up time.

The Leader:

Residents Mark Williams and Mark Stephens kept cars out with a chain across the street entrance

The residents group has enlisted the help of local councillor Graham Rogers who has arranged for Wrexham Council Highways officers to visit Thomas Court along with school governors to examine the problem at peak time.

A spokesman for Wrexham Council said: “Officers had the chance to meet with the local member to discuss the issues of parking and access on Thomas Court.”

The Leader: