Enforcement of Dropped Kerbs

The Customer Response Team can be contacted on 0191 278 7799.

The contravention of parking adjacent to a dropped footway applies where a vehicle parks on the road next to a place where the footway, cycle track or verge has been lowered to the level of the carriageway (or where the carriageway has been raised to the level of the footway, cycle track or verge) to assist:

• pedestrians crossing the carriageway;
• cyclists entering or leaving the carriageway; or
• vehicles entering or leaving the carriageway across the footway, cycle track or verge.

Parking alongside a dropped kerb can cause considerable inconvenience and also put vulnerable road users at greater risk of being involved in a road traffic accident. Where the footway, cycle track or verge has been lowered (or the carriageway raised) to facilitate access to a premises, parking adjacent to such a location can cause considerable inconvenience to vehicles trying to enter or leave the premises. The Highway Code advises drivers "Do not stop or park ... where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles, in front of an entrance to a property or where you would obstruct cyclists' use of cycle facilities ... except when forced to do so by stationary traffic."

Operational guidance issued by the Department for Transport (DfT) suggests that authorities should not take enforcement action where a vehicle is parked outside residential premises unless the occupier has asked the enforcement authority to do so. Newcastle Parking Services will issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) at the request of the resident where a vehicle is parked at a dropped kerb and is blocking access to the driveway of the premises. If you wish to request enforcement action because a parked vehicle is blocking access via your dropped kerb, please ring the Customer response Team on 0191 278 7799.

Vehicles parked on pavements can also provide problems for pedestrians, particularly for disabled people, the elderly and people pushing a buggy or pram.  Newcastle Parking Services Enforcement Officers can issue Penalty Charge Notices to vehicles parked on the pavement adjacent to yellow line waiting restrictions, but for vehicles parked on the pavement where there are no yellow lines the Police should be contacted to look at whether they take action for the vehicle causing an obstruction.  In these cases, please contact Northumbria Police with details of the vehicle causing the obstruction using the non-emergency 101 number.