A new report from Norwich City Council has revealed the daily battle parking wardens are facing to clamp down on anti-social parking outside the city’s schools.

The report describes “irresponsible and selfish parking” from parents which it says is placing children’s safety at risk - and that officers have limited powers to stop it.

Officers are frequently being met with “high levels of confrontation and aggression”, as well as “verbal challenges” from parents, while trying to enforce parking regulations during the school run.

Officers will now be wearing bodycams to clamp down on poor behaviour from parents (Image: (C) Archant 2020)

The report says that sometimes parents who are parked in breach of the rules will simply stay in their cars until they see an officer approach, then drive off to avoid a fine.

When parents do engage with officers, the report warns that encounters frequently turn hostile, with threatening behaviour making enforcement "difficult and sometimes unsafe".

Locals living near schools have added to the complaints, with many reporting they are unable to leave their homes during the school run due to cars blocking their driveways.

The council says it cannot station officers outside every one of the city’s schools every day and says that targeted patrols have limited impact before “behaviours quickly revert” to old ways.

Drivers parking on the pavements outside Lionwood Junior and Infant School (Image: Thorpe St Andrew Safer Streets)

A lack of yellow lines outside school gates, and older school sites not built to handle such a large volume of cars, have also compounded the problem. 

The issue has been cause for concern in the city for years.

In 2020, a parent launched a campaign for safer parking outside Firside school in Hellesdon after she was hit by a car when dropping her two children off.

Other recent measures also include trials into road closures during school hours, and a clampdown on how long parents can sit inside their car before being punished.

The council had previously enlisted the help of Norfolk Police to tackle dangerous conditions, but these joint patrols have since been discontinued. 

It has now issued all officers with bodycams and introduced new scheduled patrol visits.

The school run struggle forms part of a broader picture of mounting pressure on the city's parking enforcement operation.

Investigations into abandoned vehicles have surged, rising from just two cases in 2023/24 to 42 in 2025/26 - a nearly twentyfold increase in two years.

Despite these pressures, Norwich remains the toughest enforcer on parking violations in Norfolk.

Between February 2025 and January 2026, the council issued 21,306 Penalty Charge Notices - equivalent to nearly 60 every single day across 24 categories of offence.

Thousands of parking fines were issued in the city last year (Image: Sonya Duncan)

The most common violation was parking in a residents' bay without a valid permit, which accounted for 9,117 notices, almost half the total.

A further 3,697 fines were issued for parking on yellow lines, 2,176 for failing to display a valid pay-and-display ticket, and 1,533 for overstaying in a free parking space. 

Another 1,449 notices were handed to drivers parking in loading bays without loading, while 609 were issued to motorists occupying disabled bays without a valid badge.

The council employs 21 civil enforcement officers patrolling seven days a week, 364 days a year, between 7am and 2am. 

A 'heat map' showing where the most parking charge penalty notices were issued by enforcement officers in Norfolk (Image: Norfolk Parking Partnership)

A newly-formed late-night unit also now specifically targets anti-social parking hotspots after dark.

Income from parking fines is put towards the cost of the running of the enforcement service, with the left over money reinvested in highways and transport improvements.

© Eastern Daily Press