Guide Dogs call for ban on pavement parking to make a safer environment for visually impaired people

Nicky has been speaking to ITV Granada Reports journalist Anna Youssef about the dangers pavement parking can pose to her and her guide dog.

A visually impaired woman is backing a national campaign calling for the Government to strengthen the law around pavement parking.

Nicky Askew, 53, from Anchorsholme, Lancashire, is also hearing impaired and says she and her guide dog, Unity, face daily danger.

She regularly negotiates an "obstacle course of vehicles" when she goes out and is often "frightened to death" when she is forced to walk on the road to avoid the cars.

Guide Dogs are calling on the Government to crack down on dangerous pavement parking, which has been banned in London for the last 50 years.

But in the rest of the UK it is not a specific offence and can cause huge problems for visually impaired people.

"Getting out and about on my own is quite hard sometimes", Nicky explains. "Especially with cars parked on the pavement.

"I don't hear electric cars coming so if I have to go into the roadside to pass a car, it frightens me to death, because I can't see properly and I can't hear properly either."

The mother-of-two adds that simply getting from A to B can be dangerous and exhausting.

She said: "Your dog has to work extremely hard to get you round the bins and also check your shoulder so you don't walk into a bush, and also navigate a parked car across the pavement."

Though the government launched a consultation which closed in 2020 there have been no announcements about the issue, but now Guide Dogs is calling for action.

They want national restrictions on pavement parking to be introduced and clarity in the law to make it the exception not the rule.

Guide Dogs say there is widespread public support for the move, and that the government should act now to provide local authorities with the powers they need to tackle the problem.

For Nicky, a little more consideration from other road users would be a start.

She said: "They need to understand that if they do park a little over the pavement just check that there isn't an overhanging bush, bin, roadworks or lamp post.

"It makes it difficult for the person who's on the path to pass it."

Eleanor Briggs, Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns at Guide Dogs, said: "We welcomed the Government’s recognition of the problem but now is the time to make good on their promise of action and give local councils the power to tackle problem pavement parking in their areas.”

A spokesperson from the Department for Transport said: "Accessibilty is a priority, and we recognise the problems pavement parking can cause for people, especially those with mobility or sight impairments.

"The department will be reviewing the options and will update in due course."

Clive Wood, Campaigns Manager for Guide Dogs spoke to ITV Granada Reports's Mel Barham:

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