NEW measures have been taken to ease parking problems in a residential street near Brampton's secondary school.

During term-time pupils have been known to park in Howard Gardens, which is a short walk from William Howard School.

It's an issue that's been on the parish council's agenda in recent months, though it has been an on-going problem for some years.

Now, councillors have submitted a request to Cumbria County Council for double yellow lines to help alleviate some of the problems.

The parish council has asked for double yellow lines from the junction with Longtown Road to 10 metres into Howard Gardens.

Members also want the county council to consider putting double yellow lines near the turning circle at the other end of the street.

Brampton's county councillor Lawrence Fisher has said an issue with double yellow lines there would be that the restrictions would also apply to residents and visitors to the homes.

David Moorat, chairman of the parish council, said it was the way forward.

He added: "Some of the residents in Howard Gardens can't get out of their houses because people who use the school park outside their front all day and they can't get in and out with their own cars."

He said he had also seen cars parked opposite the Howard Garden junction along Longtown Road, which forced traffic into the centre of the road.

"There's sometimes whopping, great, big log lorries coming up the road which you can't see until they're on top of you, and that's really, really dangerous," he added.

"The parish council is certainly going to put a lot of pressure on county highways to say something's got to be done.

"We should not be waiting for an accident to happen; we should be ahead of the game and do something about it now."

Mr Moorat added that the school's overflow car park should be "more than adequate" for the school's car parking requirements.

Previous suggestions councillors have discussed include residents permits and improvements to William Howard School's car park in Old Church Lane, including lighting.

William Howard's headteacher Chris McAree said the school is committed to finding a solution with the councils to the parking pressures around the school site.

The school has been in regular contact with residents on the street and had met with members of the council.