ACTION is being taken over anti-social parking that residents claim has blighted their neighbourhood for years.

A meeting was held at Darlington's Education Village on Monday after residents who live nearby said they were getting ‘desperate’ about grass verges being damaged and their driveways blocked by parents driving their children to and from the schools.

Richard Gartland, headteacher of Springfield Academy, said he was pleased to be working with the local community to address the problem and is now contacting police and Darlington Borough Council for more help in cracking down on anti-social motorists around the village.

He said: “We want to support the residents, we want to help.

“This isn’t a ‘them against us’ situation, we want to be good neighbours, we all want the environment around the school to be at its best and most importantly we want our children to be safe when they are coming to and from school.”

He added: “I think it was a positive meeting, in terms of building up a relationship with the local community it was really important.”

Mr Gartland said he is happy to be contacted directly by residents who experience regular problems with parents who park irresponsibly when taking their children to and from the Education Village.

He added that letters are being sent out to parents urging them to use the surrounding roads more considerately and that the action is being supported by Rachel Ireland, headteacher at Haughton Academy.

Dawn Johnson of Bishop Close is one of the residents affected by the parents’ poor parking on a daily basis.

She said that she is ‘keeping her fingers crossed’ that the problem could now be resolved.

“This has been going on for years, and you start to feel a bit desperate about it,” she said.

“A lot of grievances were aired at the meeting, but we feel positive that at least now we’ve had a meeting with the school - it’s the first time that’s happened and they do seem to be taking it seriously now."