Residents are demanding off-street parking because they claim cars on their road are blocking access for emergency services and dustbin lorries.

Bradford Council has received two petitions from angry motorists in Bradford Road, Clayton, Bradford, calling for a new parking strip to be created.

Householders who live in two cul-de-sac sections of the road claim their bin lorry is regularly forced away because their street is too narrow for it to get down.

And residents say they are also being forced to park elsewhere because of a lack of spaces.

The petitions, containing a total of 45 signatures, ask the Council to replace areas of grass at the side of the road with a new parking area. Disabled motorist Phillip Joyce, 67, said: "I have arthritis of the spine and it can be sometimes be difficult to walk.

"Sometimes I have to park on the main road and at other times I can't get out because cars are parked nose to tail."

His wife, Valerie, 62, organised one of the petitions.

She said: "This has been a problem for five years. The road is very narrow and at teatime when cars are parked the fire service or ambulance would have no chance of getting down.

"I would say the rubbish lorry can't get down almost every other week so our bins do not get emptied and there is rubbish blowing around everywhere. We have a few old people who have nurses come to visit them everyday and there is nowhere for them to park.

"The children are not allowed to play ball games on the grass, it is not serving the interests of the people who live there." The petitions were considered at a Bradford Council committee meeting last week.

A report from council officers called for members of Bradford West Area Committee to reject the residents' pleas as it would involve buying the land from the Council's Asset Management department.

Councillors were told the committee could not afford to spend so much to benefit a small number of residents. However councillors deferred a decision at last week's meeting to allow officers to discuss solutions.

A Council spokesman said they were not aware of any problems carrying out waste collections in the area. She said the asset management department, which owns the land off Bradford Road, was holding discussions with highways officers about the problem.