UK Traffic Wardens and Parking Attendants

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Welcome to the new UK Traffic Wardens and Parking Attendants support site started in 2008
We hope you find this site useful, please say hello on our cutting edge forums! We use the latest phpBB3 message board which was only released for use in DEC 2007

We aim to give Parking Enforcement staff a cheery sanctuary and reference point where all can get together across the UK and compare notes.

If you have any comment at all on site content or design please do let us know at our very own CONTACT PAGE!!

I'm not a traffic warden ... call me a civil enforcement officer

David Williams, Motoring Editor

31.03.08 It is the end of the road for parking attendants as we know them.

They are now called "civil enforcement officers" and come complete with new powers - and uniforms - thanks to the Traffic Management Act, introduced today.

To highlight their position as the "eyes and ears" of the council, Westminster unveiled their new look.

Gone are the peaked cap, blue ribbed jumper and yellow fluorescent vest that struck fear into the heart of drivers.

Instead,Westminster's CEOs wear a baseball cap and bomber jacket with high-visibility silver stripes. As well as handing out parking tickets, they will assist if the public are worried about anti-social behaviour, report suspicious activity, make a note of vehicles without tax discs and try to prevent car crime by alerting drivers who forget to hide valuable items when parking.

If they witness any crimes, they can be called on by police to give evidence in court.

But the new Act, which replaces the Road Traffic Act 1991, also allows CEOs to issue parking fines by post if they are unable to fix the penalty to the car. The first time a driver will know of the alleged offence is when the ticket lands on their doormat.

Critics say this will encourage dishonest CEOs to "hide in bushes" so motorists cannot see them, before sending a ticket by post - even if drivers were obeying the rules. Motorists would have little chance to gather evidence, or even recall the event.

While most councils are expected to issue such "drive away" tickets ,Westminster said it would not. London Councils, which represents all boroughs, said all fines would need supporting evidence.

view the thread

Eastbourne's parking liberation front

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 09/04/2008

Have your say | Read comments

Life in Eastbourne has become even sunnier. A local government wrangle has left parking wardens powerless to impose fines. Now that motorists are free to park where they can, small shops report better trade. There is no gridlock.

Two deep suspicions greet the minatory work of the parking warden.

One is that, to maximise revenue, they pounce on soft targets that are posing no obstruction to the rest of the traffic.

The other is that as a body they are fundamentally opposed to the British constitution, Magna Carta and our hard-won liberties. They are seen as little Hitlers.

Imagine, too, how glorious our streets would look without yellow lines.

So lovers of liberty are keeping a close eye on Eastbourne. To remove parking fines from urban life might deprive councils of revenue, but most drivers think it is just the ticket.

Boris Johnson: My traffic wardens will save us
12/04/2008
The Tory candidate for London mayor tells Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson how he would make streets safer "I've lost count of the number of people who have told me they're staunch Labour supporters but they're backing me," he says.

He doesn't think his Eton background is a disadvantage. "People in London don't give a monkey's where you're coming from. They want to know about your ideas."

The Tories, he thinks, could learn from his Compassionate Conservatism. "We've got to take a real interest in the people who are not winning. I don't think I'm going to be able to turn around the problem of family breakdown on my own but this is what the Conservatives should be about."

The super-rich should give more back to society. "I worry about the wealth gap in London, I want to encourage a sense of philanthropy. The mayor should use his bully pulpit to get more out of those who have to help those who don't."

There should, he says, be an amnesty for illegal immigrants who have been in London for years - and he would like the Tories to adopt the same policy nationally.

"Every MP will tell you there are people they meet who come to their surgeries who have been in this country for a long time and they deserve to have their position regularised."

He is less sympathetic to anti-social behaviour and wants to take away free bus passes from yobs and ban alcohol on the Underground. "I want a London where kids can walk to school and parents to the park without fear of being mugged," he insists.

Traffic wardens, he says, should become London's guardian angels, protecting the public from vandals and yobs. If elected, Mr Johnson would reward them with restaurant and theatre vouchers for being eyes and ears on the street.

"I think it would be a great thing if traffic wardens and other officials who are seen as somehow hostile to the interests of the public were suddenly seen as people who were helping to make people feel safer in their neighbourhood," he says.

Mr Johnson would raise sponsorship from the private sector to provide the vouchers and other incentives through a scheme called City Safe and there would be an awards ceremony to encourage more public officials to get involved. If successful, the plan could be adopted by the Tories nationally.

What would he do if there was terrorist attack? "The job of the mayor is to speak for London, denounce the cowardice of those who tried to attack decent people and to be the voice of the emergency services," he replies. "I don't think the job of the mayor is to go into the operations room in some Napoleonic way and start directing things."

If Mr Johnson becomes mayor, he would cut back on the bureaucrats at City Hall. "The great pickled onion was designed for 430 people and there are now 730 working there. Transport for London has 22,000 working on it, 232 of them are on salaries of more than Ł100,000. I want to deliver value for taxpayers."

That includes putting a squeeze on the Olympics. But unlike Gordon Brown, he would go to both the opening and hand-over ceremonies in Beijing. "We all knew the implications of deciding that China would be the host of the Olympics, they deserve to have the international spotlight on them but I won't be shy of saying what I think about Tibet."

Mr Johnson's historical hero is Pericles, the general of Athens during its golden age. "He was a real genius of municipal politics in action."

So has he chosen politics over journalism? "Expressing yourself in print is a continuation of politics by other means," he says. "I can't predict what I'll do for the rest of my life but I'll be a full-time mayor."

Unlike the Tory leader, the father of four doesn't intend to let the cameras into his house for breakfast. "I'm not totally keen on that, although my home at breakfast time is a model of tidiness and decorum."

His private life has not always been so neat. He has had two affairs - but Ken Livingstone, the incumbent, has recently admitted to having three previously unknown children.

"Londoners are interested in the issues. I don't think people's private lives are relevant to that," the Tory candidate says.

Has he got any secret children? "Not as far as I'm aware."

Are there any other affairs? "Not that I know of."

Has he slept with fewer than 30 women, like Nick Clegg? "I've slept with far fewer than 1,000," he replies.

Has he ever had a gay relationship? "I'm not bisexual so far," Mr Johnson says, "not that I would condemn myself if I later discovered I were."

In Richmond we meet Mr Cameron and Zac Goldsmith, the prospective Tory parliamentary candidate. As we walk down the High Street, Dave is accosted by middle-aged women who see him as the perfect son-in-law, Zac attracts the leggy blondes, but Boris is hailed from across the street by bus drivers, builders and City boys.

As he stands up to address a crowd, he turns into a performer, switching from jokes about Ken Leavingsoon to pledges about campaigning against a third runway at Heathrow. The people love it. Perhaps Old and New Boris can be combined. view the thread

LOG ONTO JOHN CHILD'S SITE RIGHT HERE for more cartoons and to contact him or . . . view his thread!

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