BURY North MP James Frith has called for councils to be given more powers to tackle pavement parking.

It comes after he visited a street scene set up in Parliament by the charity Guide Dogs to learn more about the challenges that people with sight loss face when walking the streets.

At the event, the MP dodged a pavement parked car, stumbled across a variety of street clutter, and visited a “shared space” area lacking safety features such as kerbs and pedestrian crossings.

He says he heard from guide dog owners that dealing with these obstacles can leave them scared and reluctant to go out.

According to a Guide Dogs survey, 97 per cent of blind and partially sighted people have encountered obstacles on the pavement, with the the most common being cars parked on the pavement.

Guide Dogs is campaigning for a law to make pavement parking an offence, except on streets where local authorities agree that it is safe for pedestrians. This is already the case in London, but elsewhere in the country, councils struggle to tackle unsafe pavement parking.

Mr Frith said: “It was very insightful to meet with Guide Dogs and take their pavement obstacle course to learn more about the challenges people with visual impairment in Bury face every time they step out their front door.

“I appreciate that for some, pavement parking is the only way they are able to park on their street, but a new law giving the power to local authorities would still allow this whilst making more streets safer for people who suffer from sight loss and also older people and those who suffer with mobility issues.”

James White, senior campaigns manager at Guide Dogs, added: “Too often, our streets can be cluttered with dangerous obstacles for blind and partially sighted people.

“The worst offenders are cars parked on the pavement. If you have a vision impairment, pavement parked cars aren’t just a nuisance, they can force you to step out into the road and put you in real danger."