POLICE have launched a crackdown on parents whose shoddy parking causes mayhem at the school gates.
Officers are stepping up patrols outside schools on the estate, handing out warnings to drivers illegally stopping.
Teachers and parents say inconsiderate parents stopping in Keep Clear areas or on yellow zigzag lines to pick up their children pose a danger.
The issue was raised at a ward panel meeting and was one of the priorities agreed for the new Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT).
New Addington councillor Tony Pearson, who attended the meeting, said: "Parking in a school keep-clear sign is unacceptable, so irrespective of how much parking there is they should not be trying it.
"It has got to be addressed because at some point there is going to be an accident and someone will get hurt. We want the police to be proactive."
On Tuesday outside Rowdown Primary School, in Calley Down Crescent, the Advertiser saw five cars pull up in Keep Clear areas, generally for less than a minute, to drop children off.
One mother, who asked not to be named, said: "I would not park here and get out of the car or anything.
"But if I had to park and walk I would have to walk from miles away – there is no parking here."
Vikki Coffey, a parent at the school taking her children to the gates on Tuesday, said she was extremely pleased the SNT was acting on the "huge problem".
She added: "Normally people don't park there but they stop for a while and then turn around.
"People just need to learn to park a bit further away and will just have to walk a couple of minutes further."
Zoe Harris, head teacher at Applegarth Junior School, attended the ward panel meeting and said the problem had become more serious at her school due to building work.
She said: "Lots of our families live locally and walk to school but we do get people parking on the zigzags and we sometimes have difficulties, as we also have a minibus and taxis collecting children.
"I've not yet seen the SNT outside the school but am sure we will; especially considering how the team has been restructured."
The SNT has been reorganised and a bigger pool of officers is now available to the area.
A police spokesman added patrols should be carried out at different schools during pick-up and drop-off times, but he could not divulge more details.
