Mum begs drivers not to park on the pavement

A mum of a three-month-old baby has said she is swallowing her "rage" and leaving "polite notes" on cars that block the pavement.

Louise Brown, 33, said she was forced to take detours almost every day as she pushes her pram around Ingatestone, Essex.

"I'm sick of being pushed into the grass verge with the pram, or even into the road. It’s so dangerous,” she said.

The problem is so persistent that she said she never left her house without her notepad and pen.

"I try to do the polite thing. I think it’s one of the kindest things you can do," she said.

She described an occasion when a car was parked on the pavement on a bend.

"I can’t cross the road, because there’s a grass verge on the left," she said.

"I've got a three-month-old. I don’t want to put my baby in the road. Every single day I’m facing challenges.”

Ms Brown, who also has a dog, said the inconsiderate parking "makes my walking hell", but she tried to dial the tone down in her notes.

“I’m usually polite. I say, ‘Pavements are pavements. They’re for the public, not for cars. Please consider parking in the road. Please consider people with prams, people in wheelchairs'.”

So far, she has seen a tiny shift in behaviour – but said it didn’t go far enough.

"On one occasion there was a taxi that parks at the top of the road and he has shifted across, but he’s still on the pavement,” she said.

Ms Brown added that the issue was also prevalent in nearby towns such as Billericay and Wickford.

"It’s absolutely everywhere," she said. "People today are lazy. They want to park right outside the shop, the house. Drivers just don't think."

London is the only place in England where pavement parking is banned, but Ms Brown said she would support the ban being rolled out more widely.

Until then, she will continue appealing to drivers with her notepad and pen.

"Please make life easier for people like me," she said. "I’m begging – park in the road, please!"

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