A HYNDBURN head teacher has criticised parents for parking “dangerously” outside his school saying that he “doesn’t want to see a hearse carrying one of his pupils”.

Darren Mussell, who has been in charge of St Anne’s and St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Accrington since April, has hit out after parents started to move traffic cones away from the school’s entrance in order to park closer.

The Sandy Lane school doesn’t have yellow zigzag lines outside because of neighbour objections.

But a member of staff puts out the safety cones every morning and afternoon to try to dissuade parents from parking in dangerous spots.

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Now an open letter is being drafted to Lancashire County Council calling for more support to be given.

Mr Mussell said: “I was trained to be a teacher, not to be a parking warden.

“Not all of our parents do this but there are around 20 or 30 each day that do.

“It’s not that much to ask to park a little further away and walk the last 100 yards to school.

“There is not a huge school frontage so there isn’t a lot of room to park but parents have also started to park on the roundabout in Sandy Lane opposite the school two or three cars abreast.

“We try and tell the parents on a regular basis about this but we are met with smirks and a shrug of the shoulders.”

The head teacher added that schools need more support from Lancashire County Council to help enforce parking rules before someone gets hurt.

The open letter, which will be sent to 11 other nearby primary school headteachers for their support, is expected to call on the council to draw up an action plan to improve safety around schools at the start and the end of the day.

Mr Mussell said: “Nothing looks like getting done until someone is knocked over.

“I don’t want to be the headteacher who sees a hearse coming past the school with one of our pupils in it.

“Something needs to be done now to address this.

“It’s mayhem every day at the moment.

“And it’s only a matter of time until someone is knocked over.”