RESIDENTS living near Radcliffe’s Metrolink station have been left furious with commuters who park outside their homes.

It is claimed that the tram stop’s car park, in Spring Lane, is filled by around 8am on weekdays, prompting drivers to leave their cars on Haworth Street, Bridgefield Street and Barlow Street.

Cate Taylor, of Haworth Street, has launched a petition to introduce a residents-only parking scheme on the affected streets and for alternative parking provisions to be provided elsewhere.

Bury Council has pledged to carry out a parking survey in the area and explore the possibility, in conjunction with Metrolink, of expanding the existing car park.

Mrs Taylor said: “I spoke to someone the other day who has lived here for 39 years and has never seen the parking situation this bad. Every resident I know who owns a car has complained to me about this.

“The problem is that we all leave for work early and when the Metrolink car park is filling up by 8am, drivers are going to come and park here.

“I had to phone the police a few weeks ago because my car had been completely blocked in.

“There was also a lorry that got stuck in the street last year when it had come to deliver some windows and cars had parked around it.”

The petition, which currently has 47 signatures on the Bury Council website, calls for the Metrolink car park, which has 369 spaces, to be further expanded or for a new parking to be made available near the vacant East Lancashire Paper Mill site.

Mrs Taylor was also due to bring the matter to Bury Council in person by asking a question at tonight’s council meeting.

The 37-year-old, who sees about 20 cars parked on her street every day, added: “When I have spoken to the Metrolink staff they say that people drive down from places like Ramsbottom and go through Bury, Radcliffe, and Whitefield until they find a space near a tram stop.

“The state of the M60 doesn’t help because you can’t get moved there in the morning because of the traffic.

“I don’t think people realise the impact that it has on our lives. There are quite a few young families in my street and I have seen situations where they can’t get their prams out of the boot because cars are parked too close to them.”

A council spokesman said: “In response to the concerns raised, we will carry out a survey of parking in the area to determine the size of the problem.

“However, while we all want to resolve the issue, it’s important to bear in mind the implications that a residents’ parking scheme could have - we don’t want to simply push the problem onto neighbouring streets.

“Given that there is clearly a high demand for parking from Metrolink users, we will also speak to Metrolink and explore whether we could jointly increase parking capacity for tram users.”

A spokesperson for Transport for Greater Manchester said: “In recent years we have made a significant investment to increase spaces at the Radcliffe and nearby Whitefield Park and Rides to cater for growing demand.

“By adding a new deck to the Radcliffe Park and Ride we made a 48 per cent increase with 119 new parking spaces.

“Across the Metrolink network we offer more than 3,000 free Park and Ride spaces for our customers. They offer a great way to save money, reduce your carbon footprint and help ease congestion on local roads and the city centre.”