'Emergency' double yellow lines have been put down in Whitehaven today to tackle dangerous parking in town.

Double yellows are being painted the length of busy Coach Road by Cumbria County Council in its "continued battle" to stop motorists parking indiscriminately in Whitehaven town centre.

Karl Melville, the council's senior network manager, said that the lengthy process of imposing parking restrictions can be bypassed if it's felt that parked cars are "causing an immediate danger or restricting traffic flow."

Located on Coach Road are St Begh's Church and School, Whitehaven Miners Welfare and the Recreation Ground, as well as a host of businesses and homes.

Speaking at a meeting of the council's local committee for Copeland this morning, Mr Melville said: "The team is out there as we speak putting double-yellow lines down.

"We will continue the battle to combat dangerous and illegal parking, and we will shepherd people into parking where they should be."

Mr Melville added that the Coach Road measures are in addition to the recently-introduced restrictions in the Ginns/Preston Street area of Whitehaven.

The parking situation in Whitehaven is widely described as chaotic, with many feeling the situation has worsened since the Albion Square office complex brought 1,000 nuclear workers to town. Residents and councillors are reporting nuisance parking in the town centre and on the outlying Kells, Bransty and Mirehouse estates.

Sellafield Ltd says that it is giving incentives staff to park appropriately, and "deplores the minority who do not".