A PARENT has hit out at traffic wardens for causing "chaotic" parking scenes when she collected her son from the Minster School, in York.

Dr Janet Cochrane, 51, of Fangfoss, near York, said she was offended by their "overbearing and pompous" attitude as a rush of panicking parents tried to pick up their children from the school at the end of last term.

Dr Cochrane said: "It was as though they were lying in wait - they know exactly when the term finishes and you hardly ever see wardens at the school. It certainly seems extremely coincidental."

She said people desperately tried to cram their cars into the Goodramgate end of Deangate after wardens enforced the parking restrictions on the street to keep access to the Minster free in the event of a fire.

Dr Cochrane, whose son, Robert, is a chorister at York Minster, said: "It's just ridiculous. It would have taken 20 minutes to clear the area - it wasn't going to be a problem.

"I found the wardens' totally pompous and self-righteous attitude grating - they were almost triumphant about enforcing the restrictions.

"They made the situation worse because there was such a panic.

"The wardens' ludicrous and slavish attention to duty would have been far better replaced with a blind eye."

She appealed to wardens to be more flexible in such situations: "It was the end of term - the children just wanted to get away and the teachers have to clean up the school."

Dr Cochrane also called for wardens to be consistent in their enforcement of the restrictions.

She said: "People were again parking in Deangate during the Minster Christmas services and there was no obvious attendance by wardens - yet the need for access would be much more urgent because of the huge numbers of people attending these services."

But Damon Copperthwaite, assistant director for city strategy and transport, City of York Council, said: "Parking restrictions are enforced to ensure access for emergency vehicles to the city's streets and where necessary traffic movements are maintained.

"The council's parking attendants follow national guidelines and cannot simply turn a blind eye' as Dr Cochrane suggests. Their aim is to ensure that the parking restrictions are enforced, not to purposefully catch anyone out."

Dr Cochrane's comments come a day after The Press reported that fewer parking tickets in York went to the national adjudicator than almost anywhere else in the country last year, according to a new report.