Parents to issue parking tickets at the school gates

PARENTS who clog up the road by parking outside the school gates could find themselves issued with a ticket by a fellow parent.

A council is piloting a scheme that will give parent and teacher volunteers the power to issue £70 fines to inconsiderate motorists.

The volunteers will undergo a week’s training, similar to that of full-time traffic enforcement officers, then shadow a qualified traffic warden for four weeks before being given a uniform and a ticket machine and sent out to patrol the roads around the school gates.

John Kent, Labour leader of Thurrock council in Essex, said: “Some of the parking is frankly dangerous around schools. We have to do something about it.

“We don’t have the resources to employ an army of people to do this so we do need to work with the community and to bring forward volunteers.”

The pilot will start at Tilbury Pioneer Academy next week, with one parent volunteer ready to issue tickets. It is expected to continue for “a term or two” before the council assesses its success. The parents will not work every day but patrol the area on an ad hoc basis.

The controversial project, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, has been criticised by some local parents. One said: “It’s ridiculous – teachers and staff at schools have enough to do as it is without playing at being traf- fic wardens.” Another added: “I am very worried – they will put themselves in the firing line if they try and dish out tickets to aggressive parents.”

When the idea was floated to schools in the Thurrock area, several expressed an interest in the scheme and it is hoped that many more will join it if it proves successful.

Phil Smith, the council’s public safety member, said: “Schools across the country complain about the inconsiderate and potentially dangerous parking of some people dropping off their children and we have had to think about what we can do to make the roads outside schools safer.

“We have 50 schools in Thurrock but only seven civil enforcement staff to patrol them and even when we do have an enforcement officer in the area, very few tickets are issued as parents suddenly seem able to obey the law.”

Mr Kent told Radio 4’s Today programme that the intent was not to raise money from the scheme but to change people’s behaviour.

“Very often the sight of somebody in a uniform has the miraculous effect of parents parking properly,” he said.

Several parents yesterday said the threat of a fine would make them think twice before parking illegally.

Hazel Wager, 57, who has a five-yearold grandson at Tilbury Pioneer Academy, said: “The main priority is the safety of the children. We’ll see how it goes. Maybe I will have to get here earlier to get a space.”