Police help in parking clampdown

Community support officers on patrol in Wrexham on Monday

Police community support officers have been brought in to tackle drivers parking illegally in Wrexham.

The council is paying North Wales Police up to £30,000 a year to use the officers, who will specifically target parking in the town.

Wrexham has been without traffic wardens since last year.

The new officers started work on Monday and, just like traffic wardens, have the power to issue £30 tickets to anyone parked illegally.

Traffic wardens were withdrawn from Wrexham after responsibility for them was passed from police to councils, often resulting in parking chaos in the town centre.

The decision was made because police authorities cannot use the revenue from fines to pay for their parking patrols, whereas councils can.

But the council claims it currently only has the power to enforce parking laws in authority-controlled car parks, and not on the streets.

A spokeswoman said the introduction of the officers was a temporary measure, until it has the power to enforce street parking laws.

That's the ticket: one of the cars targeted by the officers

Deputy leader Bob Dutton said: "It is disappointing that some people have taken advantage of a difficult situation and chosen to deliberately flout the law and park wherever they like."

He added: "We have agreed to fund this position by paying for the employment of a police support officer to ease the current unacceptable situation.

"We hope this now sees a rapid reduction of illegal car parking in Wrexham."

Two of the officers were in Wrexham town centre to launch the scheme on Monday, but eventually just one officer will patrol the streets.