A PORTISHEAD resident has said that they have been verbally abused by parents parking along their road to drop off and pick their children up from school.

The local lives in Forester Road, a School Street close to St Peter's Church of England Primary School. A School Street is a road outside a school with a temporary restriction on traffic at peak school drop off and pick up times.

The resident, who preferred not to be named, said that those living along the road have been subject to multiple cases of verbal abuse from parents when told that they couldn't park there.

A North Somerset Council spokesperson said: "We have introduced a permanent scheme at St Peter's Church of England Primary School on the roads immediately outside the entrance (Hallets Way, Forester Rd, Richmond Close, Norfolk Road).

"This scheme has been in place since Covid. The only change is that we have now reduced the timing from 8am to 4pm to just drop off and pick up times. This change follows best practice guidance.

"We have been in contact with a number of local residents who have had concerns. We also recently attended school pick up times along with two NSC Community Response Officers who warned drivers they had entered the school street (the signs say Pedestrian and Cycle Zone, except for access).

"We have made it clear via the school newsletter that accessing the school is not a valid reason for entering the street. Emergency services, disabled badge holders, deliveries are able to enter as normal.

"As part of our offer to schools we are funding the Living Streets WOW scheme where the children can earn badges for travelling actively https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/walk-to-school/primary-schools/wow-the-walk-to-school-challenge/"

A spokesperson from the school added: "We are aware that there are a small minority of families within our school community who are not adhering to the School Street restrictions when dropping and collecting children from school and this is really disappointing.

"We have an ongoing commitment to encouraging and enabling our families to walk or wheel to school, either from home or from designated park and stride points and have been really pleased to see a significant rise in bikes and scooters arriving at the school gates.

"We are continuing to work closely with our local community in order to implement this through a range of schemes and incentives, and many of our pupil leaders, including eco-reps and wellbeing ambassadors have been involved in a number of campaigns to educate and encourage everyone to make healthy, safe and considerate choices around travel to school."