Drivers face fine if they keep choking pavements

DRIVERS could soon be banned from parking on pavements – and fined if they fail to comply.

Ministers are considering laws to prosecute drivers amid fears swathes of the country are blighted by ‘parking anarchy’.

But they admit the proposals will lumber taxpayers with ‘significant’ costs, and cause chaos where pavement parking is unavoidable.

Under the proposed rules, drivers who block pavements even partially could be fined or prosecuted under a new offence of ‘obstructive pavement parking’ or ‘ unnecessary obstruction’. Pavement parking is already banned in London, where guilty drivers are fined £70. The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a public consultation on proposals for a nationwide restriction to be enforced by police and local councils. If approved, pavement parking could be banned by the end of the year.

Councils would be asked to draw up a list of areas where pavement parking should still be permitted. New signs would indicate where the practice is allowed.

However, the DfT states: ‘It should be remembered that sign clutter can ... obstruct the pavement.’

The costs of new signs and a public awareness campaign would see ‘significant’ costs fall to the taxpayer, ministers accept.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Vehicles parked on the pavement can cause very real difficulties. That’s why I am taking action to make pavements safer.’ It comes after the Commons transport committee warned that pavement parking makes it harder for disabled people to get around.

Tory MP Huw Merriman, chairman of the committee, has described the issue as ‘parking anarchy’, adding: ‘People believe they can get away with anything.’

‘Unnecessary obstruction’