Sussex Police have increased patrols on Rye’s South Undercliff after more reports of dangerous and illegal parking.
The A259 between the Kettle O’Fish roundabout and Fishmarket Road will see focussed patrols, with the police saying they will take enforcement action where necessary.
Rother Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Simon Whitehead said, “We’ve heard first‑hand from local communities about safety concerns in Rye, particularly regarding dangerous and illegal parking along this stretch of the A259. Illegal and unsafe parking doesn’t just obstruct traffic and cause dangerous situations – it creates real risks for pedestrians, including those using pushchairs and wheelchairs, especially in busy or narrow locations.”
“Vehicles parked on the roundabout will be targeted,” he said. “Cars on zig‑zag lines, parked dangerously, or positioned in a way that prevents emergency vehicles from getting through may also be committing an offence. We are committed to working alongside national highways and other partner agencies to address the issues raised by our communities, and we will continue to do so to help keep the public safe, supported by other policing teams and units including Operation Crackdown.”
Police are encouraging Ryers to report parking issues at the time they occur on the Operation Crackdown website. The site allows the public to uploads photos of offending vehicles to a specialist team for enforcement.
In January, National Highways, which looks after the A259 through Rye, told Rye News it is in discussion with East Sussex County Council about it taking on parking responsibility for the road. Traffic wardens would then be able to ticket parked cars which they are currently unable to do.
Image Credits: James Stewart .
I’ve had a look at the Operation Crackdown website but there’s no link to report parking issues, just bad driving (which seems to require dashcam evidence; how many people have dashcams?) and abandoned cars, for which we are referred to the council anyway. I’d love to see police out and about taking action on antisocial parking rather than be required to do most of the work for them!
Could someone please explain why there cannot be double yellow lines along the whole of South Undercliff?
I recently spent 6.5 hours alone, mainly in the dark and in the rain, with huge juggernauts missing me by inches awaiting rescue by the RAC when broken down just past Alsford’s.
I could see first hand the bottleneck caused by my car and others parked along this stretch. At one point, there was gridlock resulting in a road rage incident when I had to leave my car to try to reason with the thoughtless ‘me first’ driver. The police later put a reflective cone behind my car and are obviously aware of the dangers on this road.
This terrifying experience highlighted the need for smooth and unrestricted transition along this road with parking banned on both sides.
This road is an accident waiting to happen!