Firefighters in Tunbridge Wells are calling on residents to consider how they park on side streets, to ensure emergency services can get past.

The plea comes after an issue faced by crews while trying to get to a fire caused by a washing machine at a house in Stratford Street on the morning of April 20.

Fire crews were unable to drive the engine to the affected property due to a number of vehicles that had been double parked on the street.Watch Manager Mark Havell commented "We arrived within five minutes of receiving the fire call but because of the way vehicles had been parked on either side of the street, the nearest we could get with the fire engine was over 20 metres away.”

Mark had to walk to the property to assess the incident and the only alternative for the engine was to block off the road and keep the sirens sounding, in the hope to attract the attention of the car owners.

The issue resulted in a further delay of at least five minutes, while residents came out of nearby properties and moved the vehicles. Fortunately, on this occasion the incident was not life-critical and the fire had not spread further.

Should the incident have been more serious, the five minute delay could have proved vital, Mark said: "perhaps someone was trapped, the obstruction caused by the vehicles would certainly have forced us to change our tactics, possibly requiring us to lay out longer hoses which would have caused further delays at a time when every second counts.”

He added: “While we all like to park as close to our homes as possible, we need people to be considerate when parking their vehicles.

"Take a quick look around and make sure that you’ve left enough space for emergency vehicles to get through – one day it could be your home we’re trying to get to.”