A MOTORIST’S careless parking stopped a fire engine from getting to a woman who called for help.

Sittingbourne firefighers were forced to abandon their engine 150 yards from a woman trapped in a lift in Fairview Road, when a Chrysler Voyager parked on a bend made it impossible for them to reach their destination.

The crew were faced with the blocked road at 10am on Monday on route to the back of a Swale Housing Association block of flats via Fairview Road.

Firefighter Neil Ryder said: “If it had been a house fire we would have had fire-fighting capabilities seriously hampered and there could have been fatalities.

“This is an on-going problem.”

A police spokesman said: “We managed to trace the owner of the vehicle that blocked the road and got them to move it, but they were not charged with a parking or any other offence.”

Nick Smith, of D and J Smith newsagents, said: “The back entrance of my shop is on Fairview Road and parking can be a bit of a nightmare around here.

"The road really needs double yellow lines down one side to stop all the people who park here for free when they cut through to East Street or the High Street.”

A Swale Borough Council spokesman said: “The only parking restrictions are at the corners for Fairview. Parking attendants patrol these regularly.”

Residents’ cars have been damaged by through traffic because the road narrows due to parking either side of the narrow road.

Firefighters freed the trapped woman after gaining access to the lift motor room. She was unharmed.