A HUSBAND and wife council team claim thoughtless parents dropping their children off at schools are putting other lives in danger.

Atherton Councillors Mark and Karen Aldred are demanding immediate action to educate mums, dads and childminders on the perils of careless parking outside school gates.

They say one resident is so incensed it has been suggested that the culprits who force young children to cross the road between parked vehicles, should be named and shamed.

And they are calling on anyone who has a story to tell highlighting similar problems to write to them so their letters can be passed on to the council's road safety team to support their claims.

Cllr Mark said: "Karen and I have been working with our local school, St Philip's over this issue for a few years now. We have had the police and the council's parking enforcement officers down.

"Unfortunately they can't be at the Bolton Road school all the time and when they are not the careless parkers are. It's putting our children's lives at risk, so they need to be more aware of the danger they are causing.

"I welcome and support the hard work that the council's road safety officers have done to educate our children at school on road safety but not enough is done to educate and point out the dangers to parents and guardians."

Cllr Karen, who sits on the children's services panel, said: "We have been inundated with calls about drivers who park their cars opposite the school entrance adjacent to the zig zag lines, forcing children to cross between parked cars. This has been highlighted at St Philip's School and many more within our area. It is dangerous and they are risking lives."

The couple have asked the council's Sure Start department to send out information to all registered child minders in the area so no-one has an excuse for not understanding the potential risks they are causing.