ANGRY residents have accused City of York Council of ignoring their pleas to stop parents gridlocking their street during the school run.

Residents of Queen Anne's Road and North Parade, Bootham, York, claim that about 100 vehicles travel down the narrow streets each morning to drop off children at St Olave's, the junior school for nearby St Peter's.

The congestion caused by the vehicles, which they say are mainly large 4x4s, is then repeated in the afternoon.

Residents have previously staged protests, and traffic management measures such as an intelligent bollard to allow residents-only access have been discussed by the council, and floated in a residents' survey.

But a report to be discussed by the council's planning and transport (east area) sub-committee has recommended that no more traffic management actions are taken to restrict access to the school.

Resident Janine Dunford, said residents felt the council had ignored their concerns, letters and emails.

"I feel there are things that could have been done to help us," said Mrs Dunford.

"This has been going on for two years now and it seems like nothing has been done to solve the problem.

"We're now paying a phenomenal amount for parking and there has been damage to cars parked in the street.

"The other day a coach got stuck at the bottom of the street and some of us had to move our cars so it could get out again.

"St Peter's have gone through the motions, you can see it in their newsletters, but still nothing has been done."

The author of the report, traffic engineer Alistair Briggs, said the school and its visitors had a legal right to use both streets to access St Olave's.

The cost of introducing a bollard could cost between £30,000 and £35,000, and a public inquiry to consider any objections to the bollard would cost in the region of £10,000 to £15,000. Funds have not been allocated for such a scheme.

The planning and transport sub-committee will discuss the report on Thursday, at 2pm, at the Guildhall.

Updated: 10:50 Friday, June 04, 2004