Telford & Wrekin Council taking on parking powers this month

Powers to police parking will be transferred from West Mercia Police to Telford & Wrekin Council on January 31.

A team of civil enforcement officers will be in the area over the next few weeks, and then will be able to issue fines from the end of the month.

Telford & Wrekin Council said: "In the new year, we will take over parking enforcement from police.

"Park illegally and you could get a fine of up to £70. We will be putting out warning notices throughout January.

"We hope we won't need to issue real tickets from January 31."

The consultation on the scheme was held in September 2018, and the application was submitted to the Department for Transport in January 2019.

The plans were given the green light in summer and the council has since been working on preparing to implement the changes.

Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet member for enforcement, said: "They won’t have ticketing targets and they won’t get bonuses for issuing tickets. This is about tackling illegal and inconsiderate parking."

Contribution

The move has been made possible thanks to a contribution of up to £200,000 from the West Mercia police and crime commissioner John Campion, which will part-fund the running of the scheme for the first four years.

Mr Campion said: "The investment in this will deliver better services to local communities whilst freeing up considerable police resource, improving their focus.”

In October it was revealed that half of all parking fines handed out across Telford & Wrekin between 2017 and 2019 had been on just two streets.

Ironmasters Way, home to borough council headquarters Addenbrooke House, a major HMRC office, a Mercure Hotel and other businesses, is just 200 metres away from Telford Central railway station and saw 23 £30 fines issued in 2017-18, according to figures released by West Mercia Police under the Freedom of Information Act.

Forty-nine tickets were issued that year to cars on Boyd Close, a short lane between Ironmasters Way and Rampart Way, and a further 68 in 2018-19.