Traffic warden Jack: We do a lot more than issue tickets
THE traffic wardens of Burton were keen to point out in January 1976 that they weren’t “little Hitlers”.
Beneath that cap was a human being and John Oldham, one of Burton’s four wardens, pointed out their job was to help the motorist. Although, he claimed, it was the motorist who often made their work more difficult.
As well as dealing with traffic problems Mr Oldham said he might also be called upon to administer first aid, act as a school crossing warden or look after lost children.
Mr Oldham, who was known to his friends and colleagues as Jack, lived at Rolleston and joined the police in Burton as a traffic warden in February 1971.
A married man with two children, Jack, who had recently become a grandfather for the fourth time, saw his job as being able to give advice and assistance to the motorist.
Speaking in 1976 he said: “It is our job to keep the traffic moving, not to stick tickets on windscreens and harass the motorist.”
Jack was no stranger to the discipline his job involves because from 1940 until 1946 he served with the Royal Army Service Corps.
He spent some time in North Africa where he was captured and sent to a Prisoner of War camp from which he made two escape attempts, and although he was caught the first time, his second attempt was successful.
When he left the Army he went into business with his father in law who ran a haulage firm.
When he moved to Burton from Ashby, he did so with the intention of taking a job at Rolls-royce, but as they were in difficulties at the time, he applied to become a traffic warden instead.
His daily duties started with a visit to the police station where he would check which route he had been assigned.
During the day he would then deal with parking offences, loading and unloading, tax disc issues and parking without lights.
However, Jack said the most important aspect of his work was to keep the traffic moving.
But because of the blue uniform worn on duty, the public would see him as a person of authority and he would therefore have to deal with lost children and administer first aid to anyone either involved in an accident or collapsed in the street.
While the public assumed traffic wardens relished handing out tickets, Jack said he would always try to find the offending driver first before issuing a fine. His stance was to use common sense first.
He just wished that motorists would apply the same logic.
Jack said: “Motorists would rather waste 50 pence of petrol driving around the streets looking for somewhere to park on the road rather than just park in the car park”.
He said the most common excuse from motorists was that they had been given permission to park there by “another traffic warden”. Jack spent the rest of his career searching for this mystery warden who had given motorists permission to park in such bad places.