OSWESTRY town councillors have asked the town clerk to put forward responses to Shropshire Council as part of a nationwide consultation on pavement parking.

The Westminster-led consultation on pavement parking was put in front of councillors at Monday's Finance and General Purposes meeting, held over Zoom.

The consultation had been set-up by government to identify ways to reduce or eradicate on-pavement parking, and it created debate among councillors about whether the latter could happen.

Councillor Les Maguire called for it to be banned as it is a barrier to disabled residents in electric wheelchairs or disability scooters, but Cllr John Price told the meeting that there are places in Oswestry where pavement parking is inevitable.

Cllr Steve Mason agreed with both his colleagues, stating: "It’s a double-edged sword; some residents would agree but some residents need the space and it’s a sign that there’s too many cars on the road."

Cllr Paul Milner added: "I agree with Cllr Maguire and the others in that some areas you don’t want it and some you do. But people parking on the pavement and stopping people with pushchairs is wrong.

"It’s how Shropshire Council enforce this. Common sense needs to be enforced."

But Cllr Vince Hunt, also a Shropshire Councillor, had the final word on the debate, saying that a common sense approach must be led nationally.

He said: "Shropshire Council don’t enforce pavement parking unless it’s on double yellow lines. At the moment the law allows it as long as you don’t block access.

"Star Housing is trying to introduce as much parking as possible – the whole thing is a nightmare and there's no proscriptive way to do this.

"Oswestry has a lot of terraced houses and roads not designed for cars. There is no easy answer for this but if we can find a way of enforcing a common sense approach then we can put it down.

"It is a Westminster issue."

It was agreed that calls for a common sense approach will be added to Shropshire Council's response to Westminster.