People who use traffic cones to reserve parking spaces on the street outside their homes could face prosecution, Shropshire police chiefs warned today.Police claim the culprits are causing resentment among their neighbours as well as an obstruction to the highway. They now face having the cones confiscated and possible prosecution.
The warning comes after incidents in the Mountfields and Hafren Road areas of Shrewsbury. Reports have also come from the Underdale area.
Local policing officer for Bowbrook and Porthill Constable Steve Harris said: “There is a growing trend in these areas for residents to place cones or other items on the road to reserve the parking space outside their home.
“Although I appreciate the problems with lack of parking, this behaviour is causing resentment among neighbours and other people who are legally allowed to park in the street.
“A number of residents have been warned by myself and community support officers not to do this but are persisting with the practice.
“This is a clear case of unnecessary obstruction and in future, items will have to be seized and if need be, the offenders prosecuted.
“I would rather the residents concerned be more considerate to others.”
Last year, it was revealed the Mountfields area was being looked at by the Shropshire County Council to trial a residents parking scheme. Consultation will start later this month.
Residents would be able to buy one or two permits, which will cost £50 per year.
Councillor Miles Kenny, who looks after the Underdale ward, said much of Shrewsbury suffered from parking problems.
He said: “I can understand why people want to put cones out. However, if the police say it’s illegal, it’s illegal so it’s not being very helpful and we should respect the law.”
He added: “A lot of development is going on and this means cars flow on to the roads. Developers need to provide adequate parking spaces or this will get worse.”
Mr Kenny said he did not think residential parking schemes were the answer because these only worked if a lot of non-residents were parking in the area.
By Rebecca Lawrence
17 Comments
nobody actually does that, do they?
We have this awful problem in our street in Oswestry, people to mean to pay at a car park, causing problems for the residents. However, when I go to Chester or Shrewsbury I always pay to park, never had the audacity to park outside someones house all day. Until now! watch out residents in Frankwell, castlefields etc.
Yet another reason to sell up and leave this mediocre country.
Quite right. I wonder where they obtained the cones from in the first place?
Interesting that the police are getting involved with this when they turn a blind eye to the illegally parked cars that park on the mount opposite Hafren Road and even on the pavement on the approach to Frankwell island that are left there all day during the week when presumably their owners are at work. Double standard or what.
If somebody were to liberate the cones I wonder how the owners would explain what they were doing there in the first place.
You have no specific right to park in the road outside your own house. Even in areas where on-street parking is reserved for residents only, that doesn’t necessarily grant you the right to the space outside your own house.
I do agree it’s about time they cracked down on pavement parking though.
you can buy the cones off the internett or local councill will put you in touch with a firm who sells them.
Have the police not got anything better to be doing?
I think the police are just getting bored, would any of you like it if you got home from work and coulnt park your car outside your own house where you can keep an eye on it, instead you get some stupid person who doesnt live on the same street as you, blocking your entrance to your home or even blocking the drive to your garage, just look at blakemore in brookside half of those pillacks dont live in brookside at all!!
double yellow lines everywhere and passes for residents only!!
Now that crime is according to West Mercia Police so low it has time to clean up minor traffic offences doesn’t it? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It costs so much to park in the town center car parks (that’s if you can find a space) that i can see why people are forced to park outside the town for free. If the council made parking cheaper, like it is in Telford, then it might ease this problem.
Just out of curiosity Andrew, where would we be better off?
I don’t know how accurate this information is, but it is cheaper for local authorities to rent traffic cones at approx £11 per day for instance on motorways than it is to by them.The costs regarding the simple traffic cone are horrendous so they probably want them back!
You’ll find that some CSO’s brother or a family member or mate of a DI has been ‘inconvenienced’ by being asked not to block someone’s driveway, so they are cracking down on this alleged problem, so that the CSO/DI or whoever will not get done for harassment or abuse of public office.
I find the yellow police cones that I pinched from when the flower show is on work best.No one dare move them!!
As an exiled Salopian living in the suburbs of London I can tell you why local authorities love “residnets parking schemes” or CPZ’s to give them their proper title - income generation!!! No they don’t lower the Council Tax as a consequence.
To be honest, if you are obstructing the carriageway then you should be done for it! It’s entirely selfish.
David Brent said: Apr 7th, 2008 at 10:03 am
“I find the yellow police cones that I pinched from when the flower show is on work best.No one dare move them!!”
We’ll be after you now Sunny Jim!! See you at Salop Goal…