A Suffolk father has written to a council to complain about the behaviour of parking officers on the school run, saying they had 'screamed' at him in front of schoolchildren and his autistic son.

Keith Turner said he had encountered 'rude' officers while dropping his two daughters off at Leiston Primary School, saying their behaviour had 'scared' his children, including his son, who attends a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) school in Oxfordshire.

The cause of their ire was his use of a strip of private land opposite the school in King George Avenue to park while he dropped his daughters off, with some confusion among the officials about whether he was allowed to park there.

Mr Turner said some of the staff, employed by East Suffolk Council's contractor Norse, were happy for him to park there, while others became 'rude' and 'aggressive'.

In his complaint letter to the council, he described one of the incidents.

He said: "As I dropped my disabled son off this morning for school in my motability vehicle I was met with screams of move from across the road.

"She did not for one second acknowledge that there could of been a reason for me stopping.

"Just an aggressive and very rude parking officer who was scaring my children by shouting across the road."

A spokesperson for East Suffolk Council confirmed the land next to a pedestrian crossing was privately-owned with no dropped kerb for vehicle access.

He said while the road was protected by double yellow lines and markings indicating 'no stopping,' disabled Blue Badge holders could park on double yellows for up to three hours.

He added: “However, we can provide assurance that, alongside our service partners at East Suffolk Norse, we are committed to ensuring that parking enforcement powers are used fairly and for the benefit of residents and road users.

"Officers perform an essential role by encouraging responsible parking around schools to ensure the safety of children and other road users."