Moray fire station warns bad parking could delay response to emergencies

Fochabers Fire Station has raised safety concerns about drivers parking their cars and almost completely blocking surrounding streets.

Photographs shared by the emergency crews show vehicles parking down both sides of the road.

The result is a gap that would be difficult for a car to navigate through, and impossible to squeeze a fire engine past.

Fire crews in Fochabers have now issued an appeal to locals to be aware of the need for emergency access when they park.

‘No chance for a fire engine’

Fochabers Fire Station is in a residential area of the village with narrow streets and homes nearby.

Yellow lines have been painted on the road to tell motorists to keep the area outside the emergency building free.

However, the parking restrictions do not extend down the street to ensure the road is always passable.

Local crews are part of a retained service, which means they also usually need to rush to the building before responding to a call-out.

Fochabers Fire Station has now issued a public appeal for drivers to leave space to ensure crews are not delayed when responding to an emergency.

A social media post read: “Crew need to get to the station as quickly as possible and parking like this will only delay our callout time.

“There would be no chance for an ambulance to get past here, let alone the appliance.”

Support for Fochabers parking appeal

Fochabers Fire Station has received widespread support from locals on social media following their parking appeal.

Some have called for additional parking restrictions in the area while others believe more consideration from drivers is all that is needed.

One said: “Maybe need to approach the council and get yellow lines on one side to prevent double parking.

“Very sad that it would be necessary but it would provide a solution.”

Another posted: “Some folk have no clue. Double yellows would sort that. Or would it as they’d probably ignore them?”

A third wrote: “It’s fairly simple really. First come, first served. If there is a car parked then you must park accordingly.”