PARENTS have hit out at a new set of traffic lights outside a school which they have warned are bringing more “chaos” to a town already blighted by congestion.

Earlier this year, Yarm School began work on a new 137-space car park, a project that was controversial due to the felling of a number of trees on the land which had been there for decades.

Although the car park is yet to be completed, the new traffic lights are already in operation 24 hours a day, causing more delays for commuters travelling past the school and into the high street.

Police cones have also been placed along the road stopping parents from dropping their children off on a morning close to the school, meaning they have to park further away from the school, causing even more congestion along the main route into town.

A bus stop also remains on the road between the two sets of traffic lights now in operation outside the school, a decision which has been described by one councillor as ‘”disappointing”.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous said: “It has been chaos since 6am this morning and the best thing is the car park isn’t even operational yet.

“It’s always a nightmare to drive into Yarm and there are delays every time of the day - I don’t understand how anyone who approved this could have not foreseen they would be making an already bad situation even worse.”

Another resident said on social media: “My main worry is dropping my kids off at nursery on a morning. It looks like it is going to be really unsafe.

“Before you could pull over at the side of the road, but they’ve put cones along now. I don’t know if we can use the car park, but it will take so long to get in and out people who need to get to work won’t be able to do that.

“There is normally traffic right along this road on a morning so I don’t know how we can drop our kids off so close to the school.”

Stockton Councillor for Yarm Andrew Sherris said: “Any major scheme such as this will have initial teething problems but hopefully when the new car park opens at the end of October, we’ll see some improvements.

“There will also be yellow lines up The Spital to prevent parking from those who work in Yarm and often leave cars parked all day.

“Whilst I am disappointed not to have all buses removed off the road into the car park, there has been a reduction and following completion there will be an ongoing safety audit to monitor how things are working.

“We are also looking forward to work starting on the new long stay car park in West Street and this will bring significant improvements for residents, visitors and the businesses.”

A spokesperson for Yarm School said: “Work on our new car park, which will accommodate 136 cars and three coaches, is on schedule and nearing completion.

“The works carried out on The Spital were completed over the summer period to avoid impacting the traffic after the start of term. We understand that there may have been a temporary fault with the traffic lights, which are the responsibility of Stockton Borough Council, however the lights should now remain on green until the new car park is completed during October half term.

“There are currently some additional temporary lights further South on Thirsk Road which are not related to the School.

“The School remains proactive in managing parking to minimise traffic congestion at peak school hours, and many of our older pupils walk to School or use the dedicated School Coach service.”