Skip to main content

Bristol, UK: when a parking space is just too small

People park in the smallest of places, despite the best efforts of urban street designers and town planners to ensure an orderly arrangement of suitably spaced cars. Surly some spaces are just too small to park even the smallest car. But the city of Bristol, in southwest England, has taken no chances and has painted the double yellow ‘no parking’ lines in areas no one in their right mind could squeeze a car. Click here to see just how small the space is that authorities in Bristol have felt they need
May 8, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
People park in the smallest of places, despite the best efforts of urban street designers and town planners to ensure an orderly arrangement of suitably spaced cars.

Surly some spaces are just too small to park even the smallest car. But the city of Bristol, in southwest England, has taken no chances and has painted the double yellow ‘no parking’ lines in areas no one in their right mind could squeeze a car.

%$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal Click here Visit BBC story page false http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-32589228 false false%> to see just how small the space is that authorities in Bristol have felt they need to mark out as an illegal parking area.

Bristol City Council said the lines were there to ensure vehicles did not park unsafely. However, people have been laughing at the short length of the lines. Because it is a space long enough for only a model car, why bother marking it out?

One man who is against the parking zone tweeted a picture of a toy racing car beside the short yellow double lines which he criticised as “completely over the top".

"It would be virtually impossible to park anything in the space - it's even too small for a Smart car,” he reportedly said. “It's really ludicrous and so bureaucratic and just another foul-up from the council."

A Bristol City Council spokeswoman said the lines ensure access for emergency services, as well as sanitation and delivery trucks, and allow residents enough space to get in and out of their driveways and garages.

Related Content

  • Czech minister Tok warns Eurovia to speed up D1 bridge repairs
    January 8, 2015
    The Czech transport minister has given construction firm Eurovia until April to start repairs on two bridges it built or face having its bank guarantees withdrawn. Transport Minister Dan Tok, who until December was the chief executive of Skanska in the Czech Republic, said he would call for a new tender for the repairs if no action is taken by Eurovia, according to a report by the Czech internet news portal iDNES. Tok said that the road bridges constructed six years ago on the D1 motorway slip road in
  • New Zealand: 10-year plan sets out road infrastructure spending
    December 19, 2014
    New Zealand will spend US$30 billion over the next decade on public transport, including road works not just in major urban areas but in the provinces. The announcement was made by Transport Minister Simon Bridges after the government approved the draft Government Policy Paper 2015. The approved document takes into consideration concerns by local government that their transport infrastructure needs would be ignored in favour of those for large urban areas, the New Zealand Herald newspaper reported.
  • Zoomlion to introduce full line of CE-marked tower cranes
    January 6, 2017
    Chinese manufacturer Zoomlion will have a full range of CE-marked flat-topped tower cranes by the middle of next year. Following its buy-out of JOST’s flat top crane technology in 2011, Zoomlion is planning to market CE-marked range of 20 tower cranes. The first to market is the mid-sized T320-16, which was launched at INTERMAT. This will shortly be followed by a small-sized crane and then by the extra small crane at the end of the year, with the full range becoming available by June 2013
  • Zoomlion to introduce full line of CE-marked tower cranes
    April 17, 2012
    Chinese manufacturer Zoomlion will have a full range of CE-marked flat-topped tower cranes by the middle of next year. Following its buy-out of JOST’s flat top crane technology in 2011, Zoomlion is planning to market CE-marked range of 20 tower cranes. The first to market is the mid-sized T320-16, which was launched at INTERMAT. This will shortly be followed by a small-sized crane and then by the extra small crane at the end of the year, with the full range becoming available by June 2013