DOZENS of cars caused traffic 'chaos' on a housing estate after teams and parents descended all at once for football matches.

A picture from the scene showed a row of vehicles on either side of the road with a poster on Witney Spotted saying cars were parked on pavements, blocking drives and at junctions on the approaches to Burwell Hall on Sunday. 

But with the spaces taken up by cars, drivers were left with no option but to pull on to grass verges to pass other vehicles or reverse all the way back down the road.

The poster wrote: "Witney Vikings you seriously need to have a word with both your players' parents and away teams parents about the parking! This morning it was absolutely awful and downright dangerous.

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"Yes I understand that there is a shortage of pitches due to not being able to use The Leys but there either needs to be someone stood out there letting people know where they will be able to park sensibly/safely or matches need to be more staggered due to the sheer number of vehicles trying to get to the same place at the same time."

Witney Vikings said they are looking at using marshals but the announcement of the closure of The Leys had not left them enough time to get this organised.

Witney Vikings chairman Steve Bott said: "We have no choice but to stagger games, as there are not enough pitches available on busy weekends.

"But our options are limited. We share Burwell with other adult clubs  and they play on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings."

He added: "We are looking at marshalling, but our volunteers are busy either setting up pitches or coaching.

"And parents need to be available for safeguarding issues such as a toilet emergency or injury.

"Closing The Leys at short notice has given us no time to organise anything," he said.

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Witney Town Council is currently not allowing teams to use The Leys due to compaction making the ground hard and unsafe.

The council has issued an update on remedial work going on on the site.

A post on the council's Facebook page showed a video of a tractor crossing the ground.

A comment said: "As hoped, the weather has proved perfect for the reseeding of the Leys pitches and run-off areas. On completion of all the remedial work, the area will be roped off to discourage access."

 

 

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