A blind Narberth resident arrested in a battle over unsafe parking has won a victory with the help of his local Assembly Member.
Daniel Duckfield was held in a cell for three hours last September without his guide dog after threatening to let the tyres down on cars that were illegally blocking the pavement near his home.
Following the involvement of Angela Burns AM, a white line has now been painted on the wide pavement – allowing a safe passage for pedestrians.
“The problem was that cars were parking diagonally across the whole pavement which meant my guide dog Aden would walk right out into the road to pass them safely,” explained Mr Duckfield who is now also a town councillor.
“I had called the police repeatedly about this car that had been there for 24 hours but nothing had happened. When I rang again and said I’d let the tyres down they were there in an instant and arrested me. It was only an empty threat.”
Mrs Burns got in touch with Mr Duckfield after reading about his case.
“We asked if we could help and my caseworker offered to be with Mr Duckfield when he was cautioned by the police, we didn’t feel it was right that he should be there without support,” explained Mrs Burns.
“I know this pavement by the old Narberth Glassworks at the top of Narberth and it was a common problem.
“I got in touch with the county council and they have been excellent and painted a clear line to separate the parked cars from the pavement.”
Cars are now allowed to park tight against the wall of the glassworks, leaving the walkway free. The pavement is also used by scores of children walking to the nearby school every day.
“I will be in touch with the council again because it would be great to get a symbol painted on the pavement to make it a bit clearer which side is for cars and which is for people,” added Mrs Burns.
Mr Duckfield is delighted that his empty threat has finally led to positive action.
“I have been trying to get this done since 2005 so I do feel it was worth it, you have got to do these things to get anything done,” he said.
