A HEADTEACHER spoke of her frustration after the council rejected plans for a car park ­— then painted double yellow lines outside the primary school.

Headteacher of White Ash Primary School in Oswaldtwistle, Sarah Holt, said the double yellow lines had been painted last Sunday.

Parents, some with children in wheelchairs, can no longer park outside and school buses have nowhere to wait for the children.

Mrs Holt said neither her nor the residents on Thwaites Road were informed of the decision to paint the lines.

She said: “This has caused major problems for the parking situation for both staff, parents and visitors.

“There are also 16 vehicles from Lancashire County Council who transport our pupils to and from school who normally wait at the roadside as we don’t have space in our small car park for them.

“I had a meeting with Persimmon Homes when they were building the new housing estate next to the school and they said they would provide money for a 70-space car park that we could use.

“This was taken to Hyndburn Council’s planning department and rejected.

“Under new housing development rules there is money set aside for the surrounding community so I don’t understand why it was rejected.

“By the time parents come to drop their children off at the school, the free spaces have been taken up by staff and there’s now nowhere for them to go.

“Some of our children are in wheelchairs and I’ve seen parents having to park across the road and then wheel their children over.”

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: “The parking restrictions on Thwaites Road have been introduced as part of a package of measures to manage traffic connected with the planning approval for the Persimmon Homes development opposite the school.

“An outline scheme recommended by our highways team, and considered by Hyndburn Council’s planning committee as part of the overall application, included the provision of traffic calming features, kerbed build-outs for pedestrian crossing points and the formalisation of on-street parking, including restrictions to improve visibility to allow safe access to the new housing.

“Our advice to the committee outlined that the development would reduce the availability of on-street parking, and have an impact on access to the school during the limited time when children are being dropped off and picked up.

“We have an existing arrangement with the school to manage access for home to school transport as there is not room for all vehicles to park on the school site at once, and are working with the school to adapt our practice in view of the changes outside the school.”