cars double-parked in a Westhoughton street are making residents' lives a misery, leading to vehicle damage and threatening the safety of youngsters, say town councillors.

They voiced their fears during a discussion on parking problems in Central Drive.

The council was told that cars were being parked on both sides of the Drive, forming a "tunnel" over a distance of 200 yards, making it almost impossible for residents to get their cars in and out of their driveways safely.

They were also told that heavy goods vehicles regularly passed down the drive and that one had already ripped into Cllr Jo Worthington's car "like a can-opener."

It was suggested that driver visibility was compromised by the parked cars and that the excessive parking could lead to a child being injured.

Cllr Worthington said : "I raised this problem about Central Drive fourteen months ago. Big wagons go down that road and one sliced my car like a can opener.

"It almost ripped off one complete side. Those wagons are too big for Central Drive."

The meeting heard that the car parking problem was made worse by people parking to go to nearby schools and Bolton Community College.

Council members were told that a survey had been carried out by the highways department during the school summer holiday.

Cllr David Wilkinson suggested that this may have not given a true picture of what the situation was like because of the timing.

He said something had to be done about the parking situation before it led to tragedy.

He added: "Someone is going to get injured here, particularly children".

It was also reported that white lines had been painted outside two of the driveways on the road but this had not made an impact.

Cllr Brian Clare called for double yellow lines to be painted on both sides of the road.