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A blaze that destroyed three Bletchley buildings yesterday (Monday) has sparked am urgent call for tighter parking restrictions in a narrow street.

Fire engines sped to the scene when the blaze broke out in an car bodyshop unit in Tavistock Street.

But they were prevented from reaching the scene by a row of cars, all parked up on the pavement on both sides of the road, along the single yellow lines.

The black plume of smoke could be seen for miles

In desperation, firefighters rammed one car out of the way, said nearby businesses.

Ironically, just hours before the fire started, one neighbour had emailed MK Council’s parking department urging them to take enforcement action about the illegally parked cars.

Sam Watson and her father Barry run B & T Tyres and Exhaust Centre and it was the fourth time in a month they had complained to the council about the parking.

"We’ve warned them that emergency services would not be able to get through if there was an emergency. Each time we’ve complained we’ve been told the matter would be passed to the enforcement team. But nothing was ever done,” said Sam.

The unit was 100% destroyed in the blaze

At 12.37pm yesterday she emailed the parking team again, enclosing a photo of a woman forced to walked in the middle of the road with her baby in a pram.

Her missive stated: “We have emailed and called on many occasions and nothing has been done regarding the cars illegally parking at MK2 2PG. Please see attached picture of a lady walking with her newborn baby in a pram. She had to walk on the main road. Who is liable when someone is killed, because that will be the next thing?”

Just after 4.30pm, the blaze broke out at TFB Bodyshop.

Sam said: "There were nine or 10 fire engines but they had to park up the road as they were unable to get close enough. This caused a significant delay to them being able to respond to the fire.”

This photo, taken four hours before the fire, shows a woman having to push her pram in the road due to the illegally parked row of cars blocking the pavement in Tavistock Street

“There were cars parked back to back illegally….One car was rammed out of the way by a fire engine. It damaged it but they had no choice – they needed to get through.”

The blaze spread swiftly to adjoining units, causing a plume of black smoke that could be seen for miles. The street was closed and nearby residents were advised to keep their doors and windows closed.

One man from TFB was treated for burns to his hands.

The bodyshop unit was 100% damaged by fire, said a Bucks Fire and Rescue spokesman. Two other buildings, Unit 4 Motors and Z & M Car Repairs both also suffered serious damage.

This car had to be rammed out of the way by a fire engine struggling reach the scene of the blaze

Sam said: “If the fire engines had been able to reach the scene sooner, perhaps the damage might not have been so bad.

"Thank goodness nobody was seriously hurt, but what is it going to take for the council to do something? Does someone need to be killed? This could easily have happened last night.”

She and her father are now urging MK Council to send a parking officer out urgently to evaluate the parking situation and put a plan in place to fix it.”

The Citizen has contacted MK Council for a comment. We are awaiting a reply.

Major fire causes severe damage in Milton Keynes street as emergency services struggle to reach the scene due to illegally parked cars