Firefighters were forced to waste 'vital' time pushing in car wing mirrors while on the way to an emergency call this morning because cars had parked on both sides of the road in Beaconsfield.

A fire crew from Beaconsfield Station were called to Cambridge Road at 9.17am this morning, but could not get through the narrow gap between vehicles. 

The crew had to get out of the engine and push in the car wing mirrors before they could squeeze through the gap.

The call turned out to be a false alarm caused by a smoke alarm activating in a house, but firefighters have warned that the time taken to push in the wing mirrors could have been the difference between life and death. 

Watch Commander Paul Casey from Beaconsfield Fire Station said: “We lost what could have been vital time as we had to get out of the fire engine and push in the wing mirrors of the vehicles in front of us.

"We literally had an inch to spare on either side.”

Keith Wheeler, Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s road safety officer, has now urged people to think about whether an emergency vehicle could get through their road when they are parking. 

He said: "Many streets were not designed to accommodate the number of cars that residents want to park in them.

“A fire engine needs 10ft (three metres) clearance to pass safely. Streets congested with parked cars can delay fire engines and other emergency service vehicles attending an incident, and any other large vehicles that need access

"We are urging residents to think about their parking as they could be putting the lives of their families, friends and neighbours at risk. 

“The way cars are parked can mean the difference between the emergency services saving a life or not.”