A petition with 1,500 signatures calling for more parking bays in front of shops and businesses to encourage more footfall, has been dismissed amid concerns over road safety.

The petition asking Barking and Dagenham Council to consider “providing better parking facilities to support the retailers” along High Road, Chadwell Heath, was refused at a meeting of the Living and Working Select Committee last week.

The committee said extra bays would compromise road safety for both the vehicles manoeuvring to park and those travelling along the road or turning out of Whalebone Lane South.

A council spokesman said: “The committee upheld the recommendations in the report and did not support the petitioners’ request.

“However, the Living and Working Select Committee did recommend that officers undertake further analysis into measures that might result in shorter stays in bays and better use of the provision in that area, and to report back in three to six months with an update.”