THE safety of young children is being put at risk by drivers parking across double-yellow lines, a school has warned.

Charmaine Swift, who manages Rose Hill Primary School in The Oval, says it’s an “accident waiting to happen” because people aren’t obeying the rules.

She said: “It is endangering the safety of adults and children. It is just so dangerous. We are a big school and in September we will have 420 children coming in with all of their parents.

“Nobody wants to obey the rules.”

Pupil Seb Gill, eight, said: “If I’m trying to cross the road and a car comes around The Oval quickly, it is quite scary and parked cars make it hard to see.”

The Oxford Mail witnessed up to four cars parked on the double-yellow lines.

A Rose Hill mum-of-three, who refused to be named, was spotted waiting outside the school’s entrance in Ashurst Way.

She said: “I am only putting my little one in the car. I wouldn’t park up here.”

New double-yellow lines in Ashurst Way, Dashwood Road, Wynbush Road and Cottesmore Road, Rose Hill, came into force on Monday last week to prevent parking around the school.

But just a week later Ms Swift said nobody was paying attention to the new road markings – which are also in front of the Rose Hill and Littlemore Children’s Centre in Ashurst Way – or the original zig-zags.

She said: “If there are zig-zags, you don’t park on them. If there are yellow lines, you don’t park on them.”

The school has sent letters to parents, as well as text messages, and staff have approached parents outside.

Littlemore mum-of-two Charity Denton, 33, said: “It is scary trying to get my boy across the road.It is dangerous – ridiculous.”

Rose Hill mum-of-three Stephanie Ballard, 25, added: “Obviously people are not parking for a long time but it has not made any difference to people dropping their children off. I think there needs to be more parking.”

Rose Hill mum-of-four Sarah Watts, 29, said she thought they should install a zebra crossing.

Anyone found parking on the double-yellows could get a £70 fine. The zig-zag markings in Ashurst Way are now covered by double-yellow lines.

Rose Hill county councillor John Sanders requested them.

He said: “It is a place where young children are at risk of running into the road. Drivers seem to say ‘five or 10 minutes’ but it takes five or 10 seconds for an obstruction to be fatal.”

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Martin Crabtree said: “We would hope that the school and parents, who are likely to be using the area to drop off and pick up passengers, could work together to solve any problems. It should be possible without using the zig-zag areas.”

Mr Sanders said the lines were painted with part of a £25,000 pot of money allocated to him by Oxfordshire County Council.

With the same cash, double-yellow lines were also painted at the junctions of Bodley Road, Elm Tree Close, Herschel Crescent, Rymers Lane and Sheldon Way, all in Littlemore.