Neighbours of a Whetstone church have accused members of the congregation of parking carelessly and blocking a busy main road during services.

Yvonne Ruge has spoken to leaders at the St Katherine the Great Greek Orthodox Church in Friern Barnet Lane following several recent incidents in which traffic has ground to a halt.

The church says it is aware of the problem, which takes place mainly during Sunday services and special events, and that a warden has been designated to oversee the parking issues.

The problem came to a head last Sunday when a car parked too close to a central traffic island blocked a bus, causing traffic to back up to either end of Friern Barnet Lane.

Retired language school inspector Mrs Ruge, 72, said: “It is dangerous and inconvenient and people are not following the Highway Code or even basic common sense.

“It was crazy here last week and it wasn’t great on Sunday again. I’d like to see traffic wardens down here on a Sunday – once a couple of tickets go on, people will soon start parking responsibly.”

Father Damien Constantino said church leaders have been in contact with the Friern Barnet and Whetstone Residents’ Association to work out a solution to the problem.

He said: “Some people are undisciplined when it comes to their parking. We are trying to establish a link with the residents’ association and have appointed someone in charge of looking after the parking during services.

“Hopefully it will not happen again but, if it does, we should have a system in place which allows us to deal with it quickly.”