Double yellow lines

Before we can paint new double yellow lines, or extend existing ones, we have to issue a Traffic Regulation Order which is subject to a public consultation. All proposals for restrictions are also subject to budgets being available.

If you’d like to request double yellow lines, you need to contact your local councillor or town or parish council. They will contact us if they approve your suggestion. We do not accept requests for double yellow lines direct from members of the public. 

If the emergency services ask us to paint double yellow lines to help them carry out their work, we’ll install the markings as soon as we can – unless there is a significant reason not to.

We’ll also consider requests from our public transport and waste management teams if there’s an ongoing problem at a location due to problem parking –  for example if waste or recycling collections are persistently being missed or if buses can’t travel part of a route.

We use a number of guidelines to decide whether to paint double yellow lines at a location.

Requests for double yellow lines will only be considered if:

• there’s evidence of a regular problem of parking across a vehicle dropped kerb preventing goods vehicle access throughout the day. Evidence could be photographs taken over a period of time or site visits from our officers or district, town or parish councillors 
• occupiers of the affected property are in favour of restrictions
• refuse vehicles are experiencing regular problems accessing a dropped kerb
• there is a non-residential demand for parking spaces in a residential area due to local amenities such as businesses, schools or a town centre, and there are photos of different vehicles overhanging the dropped kerb several times a week over a period of two weeks.

Double yellow lines will not be used to resolve neighbour disputes.

Junctions within a 30mph speed limit will not be considered unless:

• there’s evidence of regular ‘damage only’ accidents
• there have been three or more accidents recorded in the last five years which have resulted in injury
• access issues for HGV traffic have been regularly reported
• our public transport or waste management teams have regularly reported problems with delivering their service in the area

Junctions with a higher speed limit will only be considered if the above conditions are met or if our road safety officers believe there are safety concerns at the location – for example problems with visibility.

Double yellow lines will be considered if

• our waste management team confirm that waste and recycling collections are regularly being missed due to lack of restrictions
• there is evidence of a regular problem of indiscriminate parking. Evidence could be photographs taken over a period of time or site visits from our officers or district, town or parish councillors
• residents who would be directly affected by the markings are in favour of the restrictions

If a location is considered suitable for restrictions the whole road will be looked at, as marking lines in one location may move the problem to other areas in the road.

Requests for double yellow lines where the layout of the road combined with problem parking is causing issues will only be considered if

• there are genuine safety concerns, for example where there’s poor visibility with vehicles approaching at high speed
• there’s evidence of regular ‘damage only’ accidents
• there have been three or more accidents recorded there in the last five years which have resulted in injury
• the existing parking problem is causing unnecessary and lengthy congestion issues to major routes

Where changes to current parking restrictions are requested, we’ll look at whether the markings are still needed. We’ll also consider why the existing restrictions aren’t working and the possible consequences of any changes. We’ll only consider making changes if the location meets our criteria.

We’ll need to carry out a site assessment for these requests.

This will only be considered if the H bar meets our H bar policy and the location meets our criteria.

Limited waiting is a parking bay which allows vehicles to park for a period of time. If you’d like to request limited waiting restrictions in an area please contact your local councillor or town or parish council who will pass the suggestion to us for our officers to consider.