The problem with this picture that most people won't notice

To most people, this picture is fairly innocuous - a busy street, delivery drivers going about their business.

But for disabled people like Flick Williams, this is an all-too-common scene of another obstacle being placed in their way as they try and live their lives.

As Williams tweeted in a post highlighting this issue last week: "In my wheelchair with my power assist, I meet the definition of an ‘active traveller’ and I can tell you that meeting an obstruction that prevents my onward journey is a daily occurrence, often multiple times per day. I guess I must be the wrong type of active traveller?"

While blocked pavements might not cause much of a problem for many people, for those in wheelchairs, mobility scooters, people with guide dogs or those who need support, they can be the difference between being able to get down a street or being stuck.

Williams, a disability rights activist, is now calling for parking on pavements to be banned across the country to prevent what she says is disability discrimination and "everyday ableism".

While parking on pavements in London can incur a fine, elsewhere in the country the laws are slightly different, meaning many people won't automatically get fined for doing so - something Williams is keen to see changed.

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Speaking to Yahoo News, Williams said the picture is just one example of the countless occasions she has been left unable to travel down a pavement due to vehicles being parked on it.

"I could send you a million photos like this," she said. "It's not just delivery vans. They are probably the main culprits and, in a way, I kind of have sympathy for them because they are issued such unreachable targets of how many deliveries they have to do in a certain amount of time.

"It's also people with their own domestic cars - there are certain streets I could go to now and know I couldn't get down the pavement because people park half on the road and half on the pavement.

"They probably think 'that's enough room for someone to get through' but they don't take account of people in wheelchairs, mobility scooters, with guide dogs or people who need support on the arm."

She said she had even encountered a police car parked on the pavement - not in an emergency situation - resulting in an officer asking her if she wanted the car moved.

"I just looked at him. You think, gee, no wonder I'm not getting anywhere with this."

Williams said there is clear government guidance on parking on pavements, but it is "routinely ignored" and rarely enforced.

"When I have been to the council - which I have done multiple times - it becomes a business of 'pass the buck'.

"The council say it's down to the police to enforce and the police say it's down to the local authority and it all just kind of falls down this huge hole in the middle where nobody wants to do anything about it."

Williams said the issue of obstructing pavements doesn't solely lie with vehicles, but involves other situations - including outdoor tables and seating used by the hospitality industry, making it difficult for disabled people to get down pavements.

"I took City of York council to court last year and won because they were licensing unlawfully," she said.

"I won that and they changed the policy so now cafes have to leave 1.5m clear width for pedestrians. But the problem I have got is, again, they don't enforce it. So as soon as the sun comes out, the cafes put chairs and tables out, and gradually they spread across the pavement and I am still obstructed."

"It all amounts to disability discrimination, albeit indirectly. It's just everyday ableism. They just make the assumption that everyone is on two feet and can swivel sideways to get through obstructions."

Williams is now calling for a complete ban on parking on pavements, and for authorities to take decisive action to stop people blocking pavements - whether that's with vehicles or seating, or anything else.

"Pavement parking should be outlawed the same way it is in London," she said.

"Apparently London is unique but if the rest of the country followed suit that would go a long way to fix it.

"What would help for sure to have a moratorium on any pavement parking."

For Williams, claims that enforcement is impossible with limited staff and resources don't necessarily stand.

"With enforcement what I have learned is you don't have to be out there all the time, you just have to publicly fine some arch offenders and everyone else falls into line because they don't want to risk it."

Is it illegal to park on the pavement?

The rules around parking on pavements vary depending on where you live in the country.

In Greater London, you cannot park on a pavement and if you do park on a pavement in London in an area where it is not explicitly allowed, you could face a fine.

But elsewhere in the country, there is no law that bans parking on pavements completely - instead the Highway Code says you 'should not' park on the pavement.

This means you could be fined if it's deemed that you have parked in a dangerous position, but you won't automatically face a fine.

The RAC says: "Outside of London, we advise people to use common sense when faced with no other option but to park on the pavement.

"If you are parking along a narrow road, where parking wholly on the road would stop other cars, and particularly emergency vehicles, from getting through, then it is a sensible option to park partially on a pavement, providing there are no parking restrictions and providing you are not blocking a wheelchair user or pram from using the pavement.

"If there are restrictions, or your parking would cause wheelchair users or people with prams to have to walk into the road, then you should find somewhere else to park."