A former firefighter chief says emergency vehicles struggling to get down narrow roads with cars parked either side is a "ticking bomb".

Peter New, who served with Kent Fire and Rescue Service for 35 years, says action is needed now, before there is a fatality.

Although specifically speaking about problems Ashford faces, the Kent Police volunteer and community neighbourhood watch coordinator says this is a county-wide issue which needs to be addressed.

"Rescues are made in minutes and seconds, not 20 minutes of shuffling a fire appliance through," he said.

"My concerns are that in Ashford, there are narrow roads and cars everywhere.

"Households now have three or four cars and want to park them outside their house."

The former assistant chief head of operations for Kent said he is "terrified" for what could happen if this problem continues - especially with the rise in new-build estates.

"All you have to do is drive to Chilmington, Conningbrooks Lakes, the Bellway site and look at the new roads," he said.

"It's terrifying, the roads are out of date as soon as the builders even finish the work on them.

"This issue is Ashford’s biggest ticking bomb for the future and the ticking is getting louder by the day especially with the new-build developments.

"What is unforgivable, is that politicians, developers and builders have built roads which are under pressure before they're even completed.

"There are roads in Ashford where your heart is in your mouth driving a large car.

"Sooner or later, a coroner will be asking 'why couldn't the fire appliances get through?'

"I was driving fire engines in the 80s and it was tight - I can't imagine what it's like now driving a modern day fire appliance through the roads at the moment."

He added that if the highway code changes to mean that cars can no longer park on the paths, the issues could get worse.

He said: "In some areas, cars bumping a foot or so onto the pavement is the saving grace.

"We know the highway code is changing to say no parking on pavements.

"But if the law is changed to beef up the highway code, well..."

The 73-year-old, who received the Mayor of Ashford award for exemplary service to Ashford citizens in May, says while something needs to be done to fix the issue, he doesn't see anyone doing anything about it.

He regularly posts on social media in order to raise awareness of the problem.

"I'm doing everything I can," Mr New said.

"I'm saying this is a risk that could happen and we can't keep riding our luck.

"We must not keep on building these new developments as we're adding to the problem."

Lawrence Pater, area manager at Kent Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Some of the problems our crews often encounter in narrower residential side streets are vehicles that are parked on, or very close, to junctions which make it difficult for our fire appliance to turn, as well as vehicles that are double parked, making the road too narrow for a fire engine to pass.

“We understand that people prefer to park as close as possible to their homes or destination, but blocked roads could cause a serious delay when we are on our way to an emergency call.

"We urge motorists to think carefully when they are parking.

"Fire engines need a four-metre gap in the road to operate a fire engine at an incident, so please always check to see whether one can get through.

"We could be on our way to a life-threatening incident, and so any delay caused by poor parking could have devastating consequences.”

Chair of the South Willesborough and Newton (SWAN) Community Council, Sue Mullan said she agrees with Mr New's concerns about problems fire engines face getting down narrow roads.

"However, access for fire engines is not the only concern for SWAN residents," she said.

"Our residents have told us that the volume of parking which limits and often prevents access to key public and emergency vehicles on the narrow roads typical of the SWAN area, is of greatest concern to them.

"More so than their ability to park outside their homes.

"In effect our residents are putting community needs before their own.

"SWAN Council has made Ashford Borough Council aware of this and that, in our view, a comprehensive review of parking and traffic management in the SWAN area is the only solution to what is a growing problem."