Hundreds of motorists faced fines and had their vehicles towed after blocking emergency access routes in a popular Peak District tourist spot over the weekend.
Around 200 cars were parked in the area, preventing gritting vehicles from treating roads during recent freezing conditions.
The incident occurred as visitors flocked to see wintry scenes in Derbyshire, where ice and snow have blanketed the landscape.
Derbyshire County Council confirmed that some vehicles received tickets while others were removed from the scene entirely.
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The council highlighted that emergency service vehicles would have a hard time getting through the double-parked cars
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“Please avoid this area,” the council warned in a statement on social media site X after the mass parking disruption.
The situation became so severe that emergency services, including fire engines, would have been unable to pass through the affected routes.
Police were forced to close the bottom of Winnats Pass and Rushup Edge at Sparrowpit End due to the chaos.
Double parked cars had blocked gritters from accessing the road leading to Edale, which serves as the entrance to the scenic Pennine Way walking route.
The council posted on X, stating: “We have issues with cars double parked on Rushup Edge and Man Nick on the road down to Edale.
“Our gritters cannot get through with around 200 cars in the area. Please move your car if you are in the area. If we can’t get through neither would a bus or fire engine.”
Several roads in the area remained closed due to snow and ice, including Goyts Lane near Buxton, Rylah Hill in Palterton, Back Lane in Youlgrave and part of Curbar Lane.
The council announced plans for continued gritting operations throughout the night and into Monday morning.
“We’re expecting another very cold night and crews will be out all afternoon gritting primary routes and then secondaries, before going out again from 4am on Monday to treat primary routes,” the council said.
Commenters on social media slammed the drivers involved in the parking incident, calling them “selfish”, with one X user saying it was “tourism at its worst”.
One local resident said: “The car park may have been closed, but it didn’t stop people moving the signs and cones and parking in it anyway (I saw as I fought my way home through the parked cars). An utter failure of common sense from the masses it would seem.”
Another added: “You should be issuing fines, nice big ones it was like it all over the High Peak yesterday.”
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Many social media commenters took aim at the poorly parked drivers
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A third commenter said: “TBH put the snow plough on the front of the gritter and drive through….. If you damage a few cars so be it…”
