Parents fined for poor parking after being caught by spy car
More than 200 fines have been handed out to parents caught by a spy car introduced to crackdown on poor parking outside school gates.
Parents have paid out more than £5,600 as 209 fines were dished out in just three months.
The most fines were handed out outside Christ Church Primary School in Coseley. A total of 39 notices have been issued near the school in Church Road – nearly 20 per cent of the total.
Another 34 were handed out on Hillcrest Road, Kates Hill, Dudley, near St Joseph’s Primary School. The council camera vehicle has been out on the streets of the borough hunting for evidence of bad parking outside schools.
All of the fines handed out were to drivers who had parked on yellow zig-zag lines. Parents and other motorists caught on the lines have been given fines of up to £70.
The spy car was also kept busy outside Blowers Green Primary School on Blowers Green Road, Dudley, Netherton Primary School on Highbridge Road, Netherton, and Cotwall End Primary School on Cotwall End Road, Sedgley. There were 29, 18 and 17 fines issued at those schools respectively.
Council bosses said the vehicle was introduced at the start of the new school term in September in a bid to improve children’s safety. The move followed complaints about problem parking outside the borough’s schools. The camera only starts rolling when the car has driven over yellow zig-zag lines, thanks to technology fitted to the vehicle that detects road markings.
Once the car leaves the area the camera stops recording. Council officers have then been tasked with sifting through the footage to catch the perpetrators.
Council leader Patrick Harley said: “If people are parking illegally or dangerously outside schools then it’s a safety issue. We’ve had 200-plus fines already so these measures are working.”
