YELLOW lines will finally be put down on the 'dangerous' bridge by Somerford Road, ending what residents have described as a 'parking nightmare'.

Since 2015, residents have been calling for something to be done to the bridge by Sheep Street and Somerford Road, saying that the parked cars blocked the view of pedestrians when they crossed the road and made it difficult for other cars to drive through.

In October 2015, Cirencester town councillors Roly Hughes and Jenny Hincks said that several pedestrians were nearly hit by cars.

County councillor for Cirencester Park, Joe Harris, last year allocated £12,000 towards the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).

The TRO will finally come into force on September 11, though the yellow lines will be painted a few weeks later in October.

Double yellow lines will be painted on several roads: Somerford Road, Sheep Street, Chesterton Lane, Chesterton Park, Cotswold Avenue, Smith's Field and Trinity Road.

Cllr Sabrina Poole commented: "The yellow lines will improve the safety of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians by increasing visibility at junctions."

Cllr Harris also said: "I'm very pleased that an end to the parking nightmare in these areas is on the horizon.

"These stretches of road have become dangerous for motorists to navigate when lots of cars are parked on them, it is particularly difficult to see down the road when pulling out of nearby junctions and I've seen emergency vehicles struggle to get through.

"It is however frustrating that it has taken so long to get this far, I allocated the funding at the start of 2016.

"The legal process required to implement this change has been tedious and a lack of urgency from the county council has frustrated me.

"I've asked for a review of the laws and rules to be undertaken and I may write to our Member of Parliament to try and secure a change to the process required for minor changes such as these.

"It's also worth noting that whilst this will ease the problem in these areas I am renewing my call for a comprehensive review of on-street parking across the town, there are severe issues in other areas and what we do in one area naturally has an impact elsewhere."

Cllr Nigel Moor, cabinet member for infrastructure at Gloucestershire County Council, responded: "I am pleased we have managed to make the changes to help Cirencester residents deal with parking problems.

"I’m surprised that, if Cllr Harris had concerns about the time taken for the legal processes, that he didn’t speak to me about them – my door is always open and I would have been happy to help.”