£1.5m for parking charges
Changes to the enforcement of parking restrictions in Staffordshire are to cost £1.5 million to set up. Changes to the enforcement of parking restrictions in Staffordshire are to cost £1.5 million to set up. New enforcement officers are to clamp down on parking offences in the county, freeing up police officers to fight more serious crimes. Stafford Borough Council has signed up to the change, which is the first phase of decriminalised parking enforcement in Staffordshire. The new officers will be able to issue tickets to motorists parking on double yellow lines in Stafford from November 1. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
New enforcement officers are to clamp down on parking offences in the county, freeing up police officers to fight more serious crimes.
Stafford Borough Council has signed up to the change, which is the first phase of decriminalised parking enforcement in Staffordshire.
The new officers will be able to issue tickets to motorists parking on double yellow lines in Stafford from November 1.
Changes are coming about due to recent legislation which allows local authorities to take over responsibility for issuing parking tickets from the police.
The move will be rolled out across the county, with Tamworth, Lichfield and Cannock district councils expected to sign up to the scheme by December this year.
Staffordshire County Council's parking manager Nick Miller said, in the long-term, it was expected that enforcement officers would have more powers to issue tickets for other parking offences. He said: "At the moment the new enforcement officers will only have powers to issue tickets for parking on double yellow lines.
"But we are expecting that the Government will release more powers to them so they can enforce other offences such as parking on zig-zag lines near pedestrian crossings."
