New regulations being considered by the Conservatives would mean the end for fixed cameras and spy cars designed to catch people who park illegally.
Communities secretary Eric Pickles wants to ban cameras from the streets and instead rely on traffic wardens to pick up on parking offences on the UK's road network. He believes some of the tactics used are "over-zealous and unfair" and the situation could be improved by relying on civil enforcement officers with cameras of their own.
In the last five years alone, fixed cameras and those mounted on to enforcement cars have been used to issue in excess of ten million fines. This has generated £301 million, but doing so in a potentially unfair way that should not be allowed.
Mr Pickles told the BBC he believes the law could be changed by Easter, meaning it would become the responsibility of civil enforcement officers to identify instances in which people have parked illegally and hand out the relevant punishment notices.
"We want to rein in these over-zealous and unfair rules on parking enforcement, so it focuses on supporting high streets and motorists, not raising money. Parking spy cars are just one example of this and a step too far. Public confidence is strengthened in CCTV if it is used to tackle crime, not to raise money for council coffers," Mr Pickles stated.
The previous Labour government brought in the 2004 Traffic Management Act and, under this, 75 councils have won permission to use CCTV cameras and other approved devices to catch rogue parkers. A third of all the fines handed out by these authorities are now the result of cameras rather than parking attendants.
Should Mr Pickles and the Conservatives get their way, a raft of new opportunities in parking jobs could be opened up as councils must rely solely on them to dish out fines.
As part of the proposal, all data on parking will be made freely available, people's right to appeal when caught will be improved and unnecessary yellow lines will be reviewed.
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