SCHOOL-run parents are picking nails and screws out of their tyres as dirty tactics are apparently being deployed to prevent them parking in a residential street.

Nailsare reportedly being deliberately placed along the kerbsides in a cul-de-sac in East Brent, Highbridge, in the hope unsuspecting parents will drive over them.

One grandmother also claims leaves are being used to conceal them and some are also being fixed in upright positions to inflict maximum damage.

Janet Smith, 62, who drops her two six-year-old grandchildren off at East Brent C of E Academy three times a week, found a screw in her tyre after parking in the picturesque Rectory Close.

Chard & Ilminster News:

She said: “Nails are being placed at the side of the road. I went there on Thursday morning and got back into my car and turned around in the close and I thought, ‘What’s that noise’?

“I looked around and couldn’t see anything but when I got home and when the wheel was in a different position I could see it was a screw that was making the noise. Somebody is going to have a nasty accident.

“The parking isn’t dangerous and nobody is being blocked or anything like that. It is straight forward legal parking and this is the way they are tackling it.”

Janet fears somebody could end up having a blow out on a major road if their vehicle is driven with a nail or screw in the tyre.

Chard & Ilminster News:

She has since returned to Rectory Close to pick up nails which have been placed in the road.

“It’s not private. It’s a cul-de-sac and we’re there for ten minutes,” she added.

The matter has been reported to Avon and Somerset Police.

A police spokesman said: “We can confirm that we received a report from a woman that she discovered a screw in the tyre of her vehicle when she returned home to Church Road after doing the school run.

“She believes this was deliberate.

“We are treating the incident as criminal damage and are keen to hear from anyone who may have information to contact us.”

Anybody with information is urged to call police and quote 5218142562.

East Brent C of E Academy has declined to comment.