Double yellow lines for two pavement parking ban streets

Double yellow lines are to be painted in two problem streets following the new pavement parking ban in Edinburgh.

Council officers monitoring 500 streets across the capital since the law came into force on Monday have identified Regent Street and Marlborough Street for the emergency road markings.

Residents said bin lorries were unable to travel down the streets with vehicles parked on both sides.

City of Edinburgh Council said it would paint the lines on Monday.

The pavement parking rules are designed to protect pedestrians, especially people in wheelchairs and those pushing buggies.

Victoria Watson, 50, who has lived in Regent Street for 17 years with her three children, said cars had been scraped and wing mirrors damaged since the ban was implemented.

She told BBC Scotland: "The road has been absolute carnage all week.

"We are pleased we are going to get double yellow lines but are unsure if it's going to work as nobody has done a site visit.

"There have been many scraped cars this week and wing mirrors off and bin lorries not been able to get down.

"And every hour on the hour a van has to be guided out."

She added: "It means three quarters of the parking will be gone in our street so I don't know where it is going to go. What provisions have they made?

City of Edinburgh Council is the first in Scotland to implement new powers given to it by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, which came into effect last month.

The ban on pavement parking started being enforced on Monday.

Parking at dropped kerbs and double parking are now also banned, with an exemption for delivery drivers.

No additional parking staff are being recruited to enforce the rules. Instead, current parking attendants are patrolling problem areas.

Scott Arthur, City of Edinburgh Council's transport and environment convener, said the double yellow lines would be painted under a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order which means they could be done quickly.

"I'm delighted that so many people are adhering to the new parking rules and I'd like to thank them for this. As I've said from the outset, officers are closely monitoring streets across the city to establish the impact of the changes, and if any mitigating measures need to be implemented," he said.

"As a result of this monitoring, and in response to requests from local councillors and community members, they've identified two streets - Regent Street and Marlborough Street - where the road becomes too narrow for larger vehicles to pass when cars are fully parked on both sides of the road.

"They're now acting swiftly to introduce temporary double yellow lines to restrict parking and make sure these streets are safe and passable.

"We'll continue monitoring streets across the city and I'd like to remind all drivers that they are responsible for following the Highway Code which states they should not park anywhere that would prevent access for emergency services."