A PRIMARY school has come up with a gridlock-busting system to prevent congestion when parents drop off and pick up.

Belthorn Primary said it had solved extreme traffic problems outside the school by allowing parents to complete ‘drive by’ drop-offs.

Parents only stop outside the school long enough to pass their child to a waiting teacher or staff member. As more parents avoid parking up, the school has cleared approximately 50 parked cars just before school starts.

Belthorn Road, frequently used as a traffic light queue jump for Grane Road, sometimes sees traffic come to a complete standstill for up to 20 minutes before 9am.

The narrow street had double parking outside the primary school and buses due in both directions during the peak pre-school time of day.

The school’s business manager Elizabeth Banyard said the scheme was now benefitting around 100 children, and the majority of the remaining 80 pupils live close by and walk.

She said: “There are around four of us who take the children from the cars and round to the doors at the back of the school in a relay.

“This means the parents only have to stop for long enough to get the child out of the car and hand them to us.

“In the past, they had to park up and possibly very far down the street depending on there was a space. They might get here for 8.40am and would be parked up until we open the school doors at 8.55am.

“By doing it this way, 50 parents are saving time in the morning and their cars are being kept moving, preventing congestion.

“It’s very popular and stops the traffic from being ground to a halt.”

Problems with traffic through Belthorn village prompted the Highways Agency to last year draft plans for a roads revamp costing £1.4m.

The plans would change the junction five roundabout at Guide into a ‘fully signalled’ junction to improve access to Royal Blackburn Hospital and prevent Grane Road traffic queues blocking in residents at Belthorn.

Last week, the Lancashire Telegraph revealed Blackburn with Darwen Council was seeking greater powers to fine parents who park dangerously outside schools