School enforcement

School parking enforcement in Derby

We want every child in Derby to be able to travel to and from school as safely as possible. Inconsiderate and dangerous parking outside schools puts children, parents and carers at risk and causes congestion on already busy roads.

Derby City Council has a duty to challenge unsafe parking, and we are continually improving how we manage parking outside schools across the city.

Why we enforce parking outside schools

Parking or stopping on the yellow “school keep clear” markings, particularly at the start and end of the school day, is a significant safety issue. It can:

• Make it harder for children and parents to see approaching traffic.
• Force families to step into the road between parked vehicles.
• Cause congestion and delays on surrounding streets.
• Lead to conflict between road users.

We cannot control every parking space near a school, but we can manage the “keep clear” areas where stopping or parking is most dangerous.

To do this, we have introduced Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) on “school keep clear” markings outside the schools we enforce. These TROs set out the times when stopping or parking is not allowed and appropriately signed at the roadside, so that we can enforce the restrictions consistently and fairly.

How school parking is enforced

We use a combination of approaches to enforce parking restrictions outside schools:

• Camera enforcement vehicles – specialist cars with high specification cameras mounted on the roof, which patrol schools across Derby throughout the year to detect vehicles stopping or parking on “keep clear” markings during restricted times.
• Static traffic enforcement cameras – fixed cameras outside some schools where long standing parking problems cannot be resolved through foot patrols and camera vehicles alone.
• Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) – on street officers who support wider parking enforcement and provide a visible presence in communities.

These tools allow us to enforce restrictions without needing an officer to be on every school gate every day and means we can cover the majority of schools in Derby over the course of the year.

School Safe Haven Zones

To further protect children around schools, we have created award-wining School Safe Haven Zones at locations where parking problems are persistent and serious.

A School Safe Haven Zone is an area outside a school where:

• a section of road is temporarily restricted for motor vehicles during peak morning and afternoon school runs, directly addressing complaints about congestion, rat running and poor parking
• camera enforcement operates to identify vehicles that enter the road in contravention of the Traffic Regulation Order.

Each zone has its own signed operating times, which are displayed at the entrance of the restriction along with, in most cases, blue advance warning signs.

More information about School Safe Haven Zones is available on the Let’s Talk Derby website.

Where we are now

School Safe Haven Zones are now in operation at a number of locations across the city, which includes:

Bromley Street - 8:30am to 9am and 2:45pm to 3:45pm
Canal Street - 8:30am to 9am and 3pm to 3:45pm
Church Street - 8:30am to 9am and 3pm to 3:45pm
Dover Street - 8:30am to 9am and 2:45pm to 3:30pm
Finchley Avenue - 8:30am to 9am and 3pm to 3:45pm
Hastings Street - 8:30am to 9am and 2:45pm to 3:30pm
Ismay Road - 8:30am to 9am and 2:45pm to 3:45pm
Oakleigh Avenue - 8:30am to 9am and 2:45pm to 3:45pm
Redwood Road - 8:15am to 9am and 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Reginald Street - 8:30am to 9:15am and 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Reigate Drive - 8:30am to 9am and 3pm to 3:45pm
St Albans Road - 8:30am to 9:10am and 3pm to 3:45pm
Sheridan Street - 8:30am to 9am and 3pm to 3:45pm 
Thornhill Road - 8:30am to 9am and 3pm to 3:45pm
Uplands Avenue - 8:15am to 9am and 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Vicarage Road - 8:30am to 9am and 3pm to 3:30pm

Education over penalties: At new camera locations, drivers receive warning notices for first-time offences during the first six months to help them understand the restrictions. This educational approach successfully changed driver behaviour by 88% before financial penalties were even needed.

Proven success and cleaner air: Because the vast majority of drivers now follow the rules, compliance has significantly improved. In some areas where parking problems have been resolved, cameras have been completely removed. Furthermore, nitrogen dioxide emissions have nearly halved around some participating schools, resulting in cleaner air for the community.

As of 1 July 2026, enforcement activity in School Safe Haven Zones is as follows:

April 2022 to March 2023

April 2023 to April 2024 

April 2024 to March 2025

April 2025 to March 2026

April 2026 to March 2027

These figures are updated monthly to show how the programme is progressing.

*Camera enforcement is no longer taking place at Alvaston Street. This reflects our ongoing review of sites and changes in local circumstances, including improvements in driver behaviour.

What the future holds

We are committed to continuing to make the school journey safer. Moving traffic enforcement will continue to develop in Derby in a careful, fair, and transparent way.

• Adding new zones: Driven by popular demand and supported by funding from Active Travel England, Derby plans to roll out additional School Safe Haven locations. Because demand is high, schools must meet strict criteria based on traffic levels, resident access, and the proactive steps the school has already taken to reduce traffic themselves.
• Evidence-led expansion: Moving forward, new or amended enforcement locations will only be introduced where there is a clear, proven need. This will be supported by historical data, site assessments, and direct feedback from residents and schools.
• Proportionate enforcement: We will continue to balance road safety with a fair response. The preferred approach is to step back and review the need for camera enforcement once driver behaviour improves and compliance remains high.
• Clear communication and transparency: We are committed to ensuring all road markings and signs are clear and consistent, so drivers understand the rules. Ongoing compliance data and Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) figures will continue to be published openly, allowing residents to see exactly how behaviour is changing over time.
• Supporting wider goals: Ultimately, this enforcement will continue to support a transport network that works better for everyone, creating safer streets, more reliable journeys, and healthier environments for Derby's residents, businesses, and visitors.
• Improve how we use technology: We will continue to use high quality camera technology, including the award winning system developed by Derby City Council in 2019, and will explore opportunities to enhance how data from enforcement is used to target the worst problem areas.
• Work closely with schools and communities: Enforcement is only one part of the solution. We will continue to work with schools, parents, carers and local communities to encourage safer, more considerate parking and to promote walking, cycling and other sustainable ways of travelling to school.

Our aim is not simply to issue fines, but to change behaviour so that dangerous parking outside schools becomes the exception, not the norm.

How you can help

You can support safer school streets by:

• avoiding stopping or parking on “school keep clear” markings at any time, especially during the signed restricted periods
• parking a little further away from the school and walking the last part of the journey
• respecting local residents’ driveways and access
• following instructions from school staff and any on street officers
• abiding by the prohibition of vehicles restriction during the specified times.

If you need to drive to school, please allow extra time, park legally and considerately, and help keep the area around the school gates clear.

Report a school parking problem

If you are concerned about parking outside a school in Derby, you can report it to us by email at generalparkingproblems@derby.gov.uk.

Please provide as much detail as possible, including the school’s name, street, times of day and the nature of the problem. This helps us to prioritise our patrols and decide where further measures, such as School Safe Haven Zones or additional enforcement, may be needed.