Residents have spoken of the ‘total chaos’ caused by poor parking by supporters close to Ewood Park on matchdays.

People living off Jack Walker Way, on the Fernhurst and Oakdale estates, said they had called for action on numerous occasions and also raised the issue with the council regularly.

The estates, between a five and 20 minute walk from the ground, have become a hotspot for matchday parking for supporters, with many cars seemingly just abandoned on the streets in the lead up to kick off.

Resident Ian Walmsley said the situation was completely out of control, and in one case over the past year a fire engine had struggled to get through due to bad parking.

While they have put up with it in the past, he said they are now sick of bad parking and want something to be done.

Other times residents were unable to leave or access the estate due to the huge numbers of cars parked at almost every junction and corner and double parked along the road turning the main street into effectively a single track route.

During this past weekend's home game against Leeds United, Blackburn with Darwen Council revealed 55 tickets were issued for illegally parked vehicles around Ewood Park, with 11 of those on Jack Walker Way.

Blackburn Rovers has urged fans to mindful of residents and said it was ‘developing and expanding further designated parking areas’.

Ian said: “It is total chaos here on match days and a lot of the residents have been putting up with it.

“There are cars parked all the way up Jack Walker Way and adjoining streets.

"We dread it and you have to plan your weekend in advance around a football match you are not going to. It should not be like this.

“It can stay like this for four or five hours.”

Lancashire Telegraph: Jack Walker Way was lined with vehicles and cars had been parked on grass verges

Lancashire Telegraph:

On a visit to the site ahead of last Saturday's game, in which Rovers were outclassed by Leeds 2-0, the Lancashire Telegraph witnessed cars parked in Jack Walker Way on both sides and the road, and traffic came to a standstill on numerous occasions.

Some drivers had parked dangerously or illegally on corners and on grass verges, whilst others had ignored double yellow lines completely.

The result was gridlock making the road near impassable, a less than ideal situation if there had been an emergency.

Lancashire Telegraph:

This is also with Rovers' low attendances, averaging 14,000 this season; if a capacity 31,000 crowd had been in attendance it would be even worse.

Ian added: “We have had it worse than this at other matches.

"It would help if traffic wardens visited the area or there were clear markings and signs asking people not to park in these areas.”

Ian was joined by residents Steven Griggs, Dave Withers and Mick Neale in speaking out about the issues.

Steven said: “It has got worse over the past three or four seasons. This season is worse though.

"It does not help there is a sign at the bottom of the road which tells people to come here to park at school.”

Dave added: “We have complained more than 20 times and I have had an e-mail response from Blackburn with Darwen Council and parking services.”

Residents said there had been funding to pay for wardens but this had been ‘pulled’.

Ian said: “If there are two and three coming up and cars going in the opposite direction, emergency vehicles just can’t get up. There can be a stalemate for 10 to 15 minutes.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

The scene on an evening match day and (above right) a car has a ticket on it but residents were unsure if it was new one. 

Blackburn with Darwen Council said it had taken action and faded double yellow lines on Jack Walker Way would also be re-painted soon.

Strategic director for environment and operations, Martin Eden, said: “We understand the concerns of residents of the Fernhurst and Oakdale estates.

"As with other residential areas close to Ewood Park, including Livesey, Mill Hill and Lower Darwen, these estates are visited on matchdays by our Parking Enforcement Officers.

“Clearly, they have a large patch to cover and can’t therefore see everything that goes on, however they can and do issue penalty charge notices to vehicles they see that are parked where they shouldn’t or are causing obstructions.

“Last Saturday, a total of 55 Penalty Charge Notices were issued to illegally parked vehicles, including 11 on Jack Walker Way.

“The double yellow lines along Jack Walker Way are scheduled to be repainted, however this won’t be done in peak winter season.”

The council said it had already issued 244 tickets for illegal parking on match days this season.

A Blackburn Rovers spokesperson said: “Blackburn Rovers politely asks all supporters to be mindful of residents living close by to Ewood Park when parking for a home matchday.

“We encourage all supporters to visit our website for parking information at Ewood Park and off-site.

“We are developing and expanding further designated parking areas away from the stadium in an attempt to avoid these issues in the future.”

Andy MacNae, the Labour candidate for Rossendale and Darwen at the next election, visited the area over the weekend.

He said: “It is clear to see why everyone is so frustrated and there was a lot of illegal and thoughtless parking that combined to cause a massive issue, and of course makes access for emergency services almost impossible.

“And we were also caught in the post match gridlock, where pretty well the whole estate turned into a car park.

"So next I will be taking this up with the council, looking for increased and more targeted enforcement, and then looking to bring together council, police and the club to look for longer term solutions.”