Re: Cycle Lane Parked Cars - Reporting Them
Posted: 22 Sep 2011, 8:32pm
Hi
The local police will not prosecute for ANY parking offence these days as the Government removed enforcement, traffic wardens, and parking offence prosecution from them and gave it to Local authorities years ago. The police never saw the ticket money, it went to the courts, but now councils pocket the fines there is far more enforcement, but only on the lucrative city centre spots generally.
If the vehicle parked on a cycle lane is causing a "dangerous" obstruction on the highway then the police can be involved, but if just contravening a parking prohibition on a cycle lane where the local authority has passed the appropriate regs. and declared no vehicles are to park, then this is a parking problem enforceable by that same council. If the location is not one of their money earning "ticket" locations in the town then they ALWAYS say it is obstruction and call the police, because this absolves them of the need to deal with the parking issue they have created.
Sorry it's not the good news you wanted but that is life these days where cuts of 25% to police numbers over 5 years or so have led to a retrenchement to a position of dealing with the priorities which Govt. sets, not being generally helful as in the "good old days "
The local police will not prosecute for ANY parking offence these days as the Government removed enforcement, traffic wardens, and parking offence prosecution from them and gave it to Local authorities years ago. The police never saw the ticket money, it went to the courts, but now councils pocket the fines there is far more enforcement, but only on the lucrative city centre spots generally.
If the vehicle parked on a cycle lane is causing a "dangerous" obstruction on the highway then the police can be involved, but if just contravening a parking prohibition on a cycle lane where the local authority has passed the appropriate regs. and declared no vehicles are to park, then this is a parking problem enforceable by that same council. If the location is not one of their money earning "ticket" locations in the town then they ALWAYS say it is obstruction and call the police, because this absolves them of the need to deal with the parking issue they have created.
Sorry it's not the good news you wanted but that is life these days where cuts of 25% to police numbers over 5 years or so have led to a retrenchement to a position of dealing with the priorities which Govt. sets, not being generally helful as in the "good old days "