COACHES that had parked on the pavement as they waited for college students to climb on board were slapped with £30 parking tickets.

The fixed penalty notices were issued outside St Mary's College, Shear Brow, Blackburn, on Tuesday afternoon just before 4pm.

The action of the warden has been slammed by coach owners, who said it was normal for drivers to pull onto the curb so that traffic did not back up along Shear Brow and surrounding roads.

But council bosses said the coaches were parked on keep clear markings and pledged to continue issued fixed penalty notices to vehicles "causing obstructions for pedestrians".

One of the tickets was issued to a vehicle from Rigby's Coaches, Accrington, and another to a Fraser Eagle coach.

Keith Williamson, traffic manager at Rigby's Coaches, said he was stunned by the action of the parking warden.

He said: "As long I have been here they have pulled up on to the pavement so that traffic keeps flowing.

"On Tuesday though there was a guy ticketing the buses and this means the coaches have to park on the road which is going to make it really difficult for other vehicles to get through.

"I think it's crazy because it is more dangerous having them blocking everything up.

"It's just going to cause real problems if this continues and surrounding roads will be jammed.

"If this continues the drivers round there are just going to become more irate because they can't get through."

Rigby's Coaches is on a contract with Lancashire County Council to pick pupils up from St Mary's and take them back to Burnley.

With up to a dozen buses sitting outside the college at the beginning and end of the day drivers bosses said they were forced to park on both sides of the road.

Therefore they said they parked on the pavement so other cars can get through.

A spokesman for Fraser Eagle said its coach had been forced to park away from the entrance after receiving the ticket.

Coun Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration for Backburn with Darwen Council, said the two coaches were parked against keep clear markings.

He said: "One of the coaches was parked fully on the pavement. They were both causing obstructions for pedestrians. After observing the coaches parked for 20 minutes, parking attendants issued penalty charge notices.

"The council puts school keep clear markings in sites where parked vehicles are hazardous.

"This is an area which is difficult to manage loading and unloading coaches.

"If a coach parks wholly on the road which is quite narrow it causes difficulty for traffic.

"I understand there is a planning application for a loading area submitted by the college to help alleviate this problem.

"Until the loading bays are in place, the council will discuss with the college about a short term arrangement.

"However, we will issue penalty charge notices to vehicles causing obstructions for pedestrians."