A LACK of off-street parking is causing headaches for motorists and residents.

People living on Cowcliffe Hill Road, Cowcliffe, have no choice but to park on both sides of the narrow street.

The road links Fixby and Cowcliffe to Birkby and Huddersfield town centre and is also a bus route.

Cars coming down the steep hill often meet cars coming up - meaning one has to stop and give way. This leads to tailbacks and delays of up to 30 minutes as traffic filters through the bottleneck of parked cars.

The problem is worse during the school-run.

Residents say some motorists do not give way early enough, meaning vehicles get stuck.

Some motorists lose patience and turn around near a blind corner to try to find another route.

Now fed-up residents, who sometimes can't get out of their driveways because of the traffic jams, have collected a petition signed by 80 people and handed it to Kirklees councillors.

Birkby ward Clr Mehboob Khan said: "I have used the road myself and was stuck in a jam for 30 minutes. The residents are up in arms about it. They can't get out of their driveways."

The alternative is to go along Netheroyd Hill Road and Bradford Road, which is a much longer route.

Clr Khan and fellow Birkby councillors Annie Smith and Deryck Hillas are urging Kirklees highways officers to take action.

This will involve counting the number of vehicles using the road and consulting local residents.

Clr Khan added: "It has been a problem for some time but has now got worse."

Clr Smith, who uses the bus route, said clearer indications about who has the right of way on the hill would help improve the situation.

"It is unclear," she said. "People coming down don't leave enough space. They don't know there's someone coming up until they meet them because there is a blind bend at the hill top."

Removing the parked cars could encourage speeding. Solving the jams was a priority.

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