Parking wardens are increasingly becoming ‘community ambassadors’, acting as a reassuring street presence for the public – a poll suggests.
A survey of civil enforcement officers, traffic attendants and parking attendants by NSL found 52% of the wardens witnessed parking on pavements or in a dangerous manner up to three times a day – with over a quarter seeing this behaviour over three time each day.
A majority of the 1,800 respondents said litter and discarded rubbish, damage to paths and fly tipping were having the biggest negative impact on their working environment.
Some 38% of those quizzed said the most frequent form of aggressive behaviour they encountered on the streets was people shouting at each other, while 32% named drunken behaviour.
Some 35% said they encountered vehicles parked in contravention of local parking regulations - but which have non-UK registration plates – on average at least once a day.
The Local Government Association recently warned millions in unpaid parking fines was being written off every year thanks to councils being unable to trace foreign vehicles.
Almost a quarter of respondents said the misuse or fraudulent use of Blue Badges had increased significantly.
Mark Hoskin, NSL’s local government director, said the survey ‘shows how much those on the frontline of parking services do in each community they work in and how unique their perspective of our streets. Like last year, the results show how hard CEOs/TAs/PAs work, and how varied their roles are, going against public perception that all they do is issue tickets.’
