Panic in Peak District as viral trend causes 'parking chaos'

A TikTok trend where people watch the sunrise at a Peak District spot has been blamed for creating parking "chaos".

Videos of Mam Tor, in the High Peak of Derbyshire, have gained million of views on the popular social media platform.

Thanks to the videos, hundreds of people are now hiking the grass hill every morning to catch the views from themselves.

Although it may seem like a wholesome moment that has created appreciation for the national park's beautiful landscape, the trend has caused absolute chaos for those needing to park on the countryside roads.

One video showed hundreds of cars parked on the edges of a road leading to the hill; others were parked over double yellow lines at dangerous angles.

It has become so bad that the Labour MP Jon Pearce who represents High Peak has written to the Peak District authorities calling for "immediate and decisive action" to deal with the issue which he said was causing "chaos".

He said: "I understand a lot of the issues we're having at the moment is because there's a TikTok craze for going and seeing sunrise, sunset on Mam Tor and that's caused the peak in the parking issues we've got at moment.

"But that has at least given us the heads up that we've got to be prepared for the summer."

The MP has proposed solutions including placing barriers on verges, increasing fines, better signage and creating more public car parks ahead of the summer tourism season.

Derbyshire Police has also warned about dangerous parking after officers were forced to close multiple in January, including Winnats Pass and Rushup Edge, near Castleton, due to "selfish parking".

The force shared that it will be upping the patrols in the problematic areas. Videos on TikTok also showed a number of cars parked on double yellow lines with parking tickets on their windscreens.

In Rushup Edge, almost 2,000 parking fines were issued last year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillors in Hope Valley have called for an "urgent plan of action" after gritting lorries were blocked on local roads because of "about 200" parked cars.

The placement of boulders on the sides of the road near Mam Tor is now being considered by Derbyshire county council.