Five traffic wardens to be taken on in Telford

The job of issuing tickets in the area was managed by the police until they withdrew from the service back in 2009.

Now, after "concern" from parish councils, Telford & Wrekin Council is to ask the Department of Transport for permission to take over civil parking enforcement "at the earliest opportunity".

The decision was confirmed by the authority's cabinet on Thursday.

If the request is approved then the council will employ five "enforcement officers", who would also have powers relating to fly-tipping, littering, and dog fouling.

Concern

A report approved by the cabinet stated: "The enforcement of parking restrictions in the borough has been identified as an area of concern for town and parish councils and residents, following the withdrawal of the police’s traffic wardens in 2009.

"At present the only organisation with powers to enforce on-street parking offences are the police, primarily through local policing teams.

"West Mercia police have locally acknowledged that parking enforcement is unlikely to be a long term priority, and that in many instances it is not possible to allocate the level of policing resource that parking enforcement requires."

Penalty

If the Department of Transport agrees the move then the council would be able issue penalty charge notices to motorists who have broken parking restrictions – such as parking on double yellow lines, school 'keep clear' areas, or on footways.

A survey carried out by the council last year found that 78 per cent of people responding had experienced bad parking outside most of the borough's schools.

It also found that 82 per cent found pavement parking to be a problem, while there was evidence of misuse of disabled parking bays.