Wardens on the beat

Parkingticketstobeissued

Parking wardens are finally able to issue tickets to drivers who ignore restrictions.

Enforcement staff were seen hitting the streets in Stirling and Dunblane on Wednesday, after decriminalisation legislation was finally brought into place.

Police informed Stirling Council almost four years ago they would withdraw their provision for on-street parking enforcement, but a temporary deal was reached after lengthy negotiations for the service to be retained whilst the council sorted out the legislation needed to take over the service on a permanent basis.

Regular monitoring of the service came to an end when the two police traffic wardens left their posts last year, with parking problems reported across the area since then.

The legislation was expected to be sanctioned last summer, however, the expected deadline was pushed back because Transport Scotland was said to be bogged down with applications.

The council introduced an enforcement team last month but they were unable to issue fines until the decriminalisation legislation was fully completed. It was confirmed this week that the process has been completed, and wardens can now issue fines.

A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “DPE is now in place and we have taken over responsibility for parking enforcement across the Stirling area – full details are available at http://my.stirling.gov.uk/ services/transport-andstreets/parking-and-carparks/parking-fines.”

Any vehicle found to be in contravention of any parking restriction in force will be issued a Penalty Charge Notice for £60. This will be reduced by 50 per cent if paid within 14 days of the date of issue, or if ignored increase to £90.