Residents in a quiet cul-de-sac barricaded their road with wheelie bins on Monday afternoon in protest at parents using it for the school run.

Halton Place gives onto an emergency access gate for Cleethorpes Academy, in Lincolnshire, which the school repurposed as a second entrance during the pandemic.

People living on the road said they have ‘had enough’ of being blocked from leaving their homes by parents parking on their driveways.

The school said it opened the entrance to deal with ‘government restrictions regarding bubble groups and staggered start and finish times’ and has decided to keep using it because of the growing number of pupils attending.

One resident of 23 years told GrimsbyLive: ‘We understood that the emergency access gate for the school had to be used during the pandemic and it was to keep everyone safe.

‘But now they want to use it permanently and we are just not having it. We were promised that it would only be used during the pandemic. But now they want to make it permanent.

‘We get parents parking across our driveway. We have to organise our lives around school times.

‘Try telling your GP that you can’t make it for a 9am appointment because you can’t get out. There are people who have lived here for over 30 years.

‘People bought their houses because they were told the gate was only an emergency access.’

Another said they were fed up with kids riding bicycles along the pavement and received abuse for trying to complain.

Bob Callison, a local Tory councillor who attended the blockade in support, said: ‘There are many round here who are elderly and they can’t get out of their homes or get the home helps they need.

‘The residents are letting people walk along the road but there won’t be any cars coming through to pick up children.’

The protest has prompted a backlash from parents, who called police after pupils were delayed leaving school.

One said: ‘My lad has special needs and needs to be picked up from the same spot every day otherwise he has a breakdown. I don’t block anyone’s drive. It needs sorting.

Cleethorpes Academy’s principal, Janice Thorpes, said the school has been in talks with councillors and wants to find a mutual solution but won’t back down from letting children use the access as ‘safeguarding our students is our number one priority’.

She said: ‘This arrangement has proved very successful and has enhanced student safety as the entrance into the Academy from Grainsby Avenue is too small for 900+ students, and there are a large number of cars parked on both sides of the road.

‘The Academy has grown substantially since opening in 2010 with a 20 per cent increase in numbers on roll. As a result, we have now decided to use both entrances to the Academy.

‘We are exceptionally disappointed that the residents of Halton Place and a local councillor have taken this action as it has caused considerable disruption to the Academy and has caused distress to students.

Humberside Police said they were called to ‘reports of a small protest and highway disruption’ on the road at 2.30pm on Monday.

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