A parking attendant was almost knocked down by a motorist driving the wrong way through an historic part of Shrewsbury, it emerged today.

Council officer David Roberts revealed the lucky escape for one of the attendants as he spoke of how dangerous it was for motorists to flout the law by taking a short cut through Fish Street and then briefly turning against the flow of the traffic to access St Mary’s Place.

Police earlier this week revealed that motorists were driving the wrong way at the rate of 10 vehicles an hour in a bid to shorten their journeys.

They said Fish Street was unsuitable as a through road and designated as “access only”, but motorists were failing to obey the mandatory right turn and were turning left for a short distance so that they can to turn into St Mary’s Place.

They warned they would be dealing with the issue with zero tolerance.

Today Mr Roberts, environmental enforcement manager at Shropshire Council, said: “One of our attendants had to step back as a car brushed his uniform. He explained to the driver he was going the wrong way but the driver complained to us.

“We said he was going the wrong way and we would report it to police and didn’t hear from him again.”

Readers of the Shropshire Star’s website have also had their say. One wrote that she hoped the St Georges area of Telford would be targeted as well adding: “Driving standards do seem to be low nowadays.”

Another added: “It’s a simple choice and we have no-one to blame when we break the law and get caught.

But Paul Johnson questioned whether “police time would be better spent eradicating the anti-social behaviour that blights the streets of Shrewsbury each and every day”.