Parking chaos as Peak District roads struggles to cope with bank holiday visitors

Castelton and Mam Tor were just two of the spots blighted by tourists.

Resident Jessica Elliot said parking was a ‘massive problem’ in Castleton.

On Sunday Peak Travel Watch said on Facebook: “Mam Tor and Castleton are very busy again and lots of people are getting parking tickets.”

However residents said this was not enough.

One commented: “Some of them don’t actually realise people live here and still have to get on with our daily lives, just doesn’t enter into their heads.”

Another said: “I took my son to work in Hope this morning, absolutely shocking parking. There was one car parked at the bus stop near the Edale car park. Half in the road, absolutely should be towed away, ridiculous.”While a third said: “Clearer signage or some deterrent needed to stop them leaving vehicles there in the first place.”Others worried about the access of emergency vehicles and said they would rather stay in on a bank holiday than try and get anywhere with cars everywhere.

There are almost 2,000 car parking spaces across 44 Peak District National Park Authority car parks with 13 of these free to use.

The remaining 31 car parks have a Pay & Display system.

There are also two car parks with publicly accessible EV charging points. These are Millers Dale Station and Parsley Hay.

A spokesperson for the Peak District National Park Authority said: “Whilst general highways management and control – including fines for illegal parking – is a matter for the police and local authority, we would urge that all visitors respect local communities by not parking over residential or farming access gateways; particularly crucial at this time of year when access to livestock is vitally important.

“Many of the Peak District’s popular routes are narrow by their nature, and parking on verges or other areas immediately adjacent to the road can also put emergency service response times at risk, which can impact not only local residents but also those who have travelled to enjoy the area.”