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Questions over who is 'using nails to stop parking'

George King/BBC A woman with dark short hair in front of trees. She is looking to the cameraGeorge King/BBC
Concerned parent Inci Kara, 40, said the nails are placed upwards to cause punctures

Parents fear children could be “severely injured” after upward-facing nails were found in grass verges near a school to "deter people from parking".

Suffolk Police officers are looking into reports of criminal damage and attempted criminal damage in All Saints Road, near to the Creeting St Mary Primary School.

A similar incident was thought to have occurred in the same part of the village in May, which resulted in damage to at least two car tyres.

Many parents think the nails, along with screws, were designed to deter them from parking outside homes when dropping and picking up children from school.

Contributed A nail poking out of a muddy grass vergeContributed
Screws and nails have been spotted embedded in grass verges near to Creeting St Mary Primary School

Parents have spoken of their concerns about the latest incidents.

Inci Kara, 40, said: “The nails are positioned upwards deliberately because they don’t want us to park here and that is worrying.

“I know a lady who last year had to change four of her tyres because of this but now it is happening again.”

Fellow parent Stephanie Wilson 41, worried that the nails and screws could also result in injury.

“Multiple parents have said they have had their tyres flattened but my main concern is if a child that is walking home falls and lands on them or a dog walks on them.

“The person behind this has not thought about the potential consequences of these actions. It’s not worth injuring someone over.”

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Stephanie Wilson worries children could fall on the nails and screws and then get badly injured
Contributed A metal nail in wet mudContributed
Parents believe the screws and nails have been put in grass verges to stop them from parking outside people's homes

Amy Banthorpe, a teaching assistant at Creeting St Mary Primary School, feared children could stop walking to school due to safety concerns.

The 32-year-old said: “It’s slightly unhinged really that someone is doing this and our biggest concern really is that a child is going to get severely injured.

“We always encourage children to walk to school and have that healthy lifestyle and it would be a real shame to lose that because of selfish actions.

“It’s horrendous and quite shocking to us all and seems people have not thought through the potential risks – a tyre could blow out and it could be catastrophic.”

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Resident Rick Keating says parents parking in All Saints Road when picking up and dropping off their children at school can be a "hassle"

Resident Rick Keating, 69, said congestion was increasingly a problem but disagreed with the nails and screws being used.

He said: “Parents are parking up and down the street and it’s a hassle in the morning when school is opening and a hassle in the afternoon when school is out

“But there is no place to park basically, so there’s really no way around it I don’t think.”

George King/BBC A woman with curly hair and glasses, wearing a pink vest top, smiling into the cameraGeorge King/BBC
Creeting St Mary Parish Council clerk, Jennie Blackburn, says the council would like to establish more parking in the area

Creeting St Mary parish clerk, Jennie Blackburn, says the council was “always trying to find extra parking”.

“It’s frustrating because we want to help but we can’t find a resolution at the moment but residents can’t really expect parents to not park on the road,” she said

“There are a lot of parents who have punctures and there are a lot of young children on their scooters and their bikes so [putting out nails and screws] is a risk.”

Suffolk Police has now appealed for anyone with information about the recent incidents to contact it on 101 and quote 37/53394/24.

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