PARENTS have been banned from using Thurlestone Parish Hall car park for the school run and school events following allegations of abusive behaviour, damage and obscene graffiti.

Trustees of the hall say they reluctantly imposed the ban on parents of children attending All Saints’ School after a long-running dispute over car park use.

It reached a head during a school sports day last term, prompting the ban this month.

In a notice published in the latest Village Voice, the hall committee said members of an exercise class arrived for a 9.30 am session to find the car park full with vehicles belonging to people attending the school event.

When sports day ended, cars belonging to hall users blocked some vehicles.

The committee alleges one parent then “beat” on the hall’s windows and door, another repeatedly sounded a car horn, while obscene graffiti was written on a Pilates attendee’s vehicle. One class member was said to have been left in tears and frightened to return to her car.

The incident was said to be the culmination of years of parking difficulties, with previous complaints including verbal abuse of a hall cleaner, damage to hall property, and paying users being blocked in.

It also recalled a much earlier incident in which it alleges a councillor attempting to manage access to the car park was deliberately “nudged” by a parent’s vehicle.

The committee delayed introducing a ban last year to give the school’s newly appointed head an opportunity to improve the situation. But trustees said their safeguarding responsibilities meant they could no longer allow the arrangement to continue.

They said: “We have been left with no choice.”

Parents are no longer permitted to use the Parish Hall car park to drop off and collect children or to attend school events. It is understood that some parents have recently formed a car park working committee and drawn up a map highlighting alternative parking in the area.

Hannah Ruston, Headteacher at All Saints’ Thurlestone C of E Academy said: “We have a long-standing and valued relationship with the Parish Hall and are very sorry that events have caused upset for some of the people who use it. We greatly appreciate the important role the Parish Hall plays in village life and the opportunities it provides for local people.

“We acknowledge that we did not notify the Village Hall in advance of our Sports Day this year, and we have apologised for that oversight.

“We have always encouraged our school community to be considerate of others and to park respectfully within the village.

“We are grateful to those parents and members of the community who have worked constructively over the summer to help find positive ways forward.

“We genuinely value our relationship with the Parish Hall and the wider village community and hope that the work that has taken place over recent months provides a solid foundation for us all to continue working together in the future.”