City council spy car nets 100 drivers a month
MORE than 100 motorists a month are being hit with fines from a council CCTV car after being caught parking on double yellow lines, in loading bays and on pedestrian crossings.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council's 'spy car' has issued 1,813 parking fines of between £50 and £70 in the past 18 months for those offences.
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Motorists in Tunstall, Longton and Stoke town centres have been worst hit.
The 1,813 fines are in addition to the 8,074 penalties handed to motorists caught driving in the city's bus lanes.
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Town centre traders today accused the council of using the spy car as a 'money-making tool'.
So far, the council CCTV car has issued:
688 fines in Tower Square, Tunstall;
224 fines in Hill Street, Stoke;
173 fines in Market Place, Burslem;
76 fines in College Road, Shelton.
Tunstall Chamber of Trade chairman Bill McDonald, who owns Copy-Cad, said: "I see the car an awful lot. It comes around several times a day. It seems to target areas which are easy, rather than looking where there is a real problem.
"The CCTV car is a good little tool if used in the right way and not just to make money. There is a desperate struggle for parking in the town." Save Our Stoke campaign co-ordinator Graham Barrett believes motorists are shunning town centre car parks because of the high parking charges.
The 61-year-old, of Stoke, said: "I am amazed by the amount of people who have been caught by this car.
"The council isn't doing itself any favours by making parking so expensive. We live in a very depressed area and people are choosing to park anywhere other than car parks to avoid the charges."
Paul Biggs, Staffordshire co-ordinator for the Association of British Drivers, pictured, added: "People have always done things like pull up on yellow lines for a few minutes but it is only recently they have been getting caught by CCTV cars.
"Councils buy these cars at such high prices and the fines are just one way of getting their money back."
The figures have emerged after The Sentinel revealed the council plans to make an extra £780,000 through additional parking enforcement in 2013/14.
City Councillor Ruth Rosenau, cabinet member for transportation, said: "The car is used to enforce parking restrictions. It is clearly marked and is there to deter motorists from parking or driving in areas which cause road safety issues, congestion, hazards and obstructions for other road users."
Comments
by nobbynextdoor
Thursday, January 03 2013, 5:45PM
“by the way, taxi's aren't allowed to use the bus lanes, I was once a passenger in one in hanley that the police pulled over to repremand. The taxi driver just had one word which he used repeatedly in response....thankyou.thankyou”
by warren-lloyd
Thursday, January 03 2013, 12:26PM
“I'd just send someone into Longton in plain cloths, cut though the market and start at the top, work their way down and book the dammed lot of them, swabbing the back seats for drugs as they went.”
by pensioner46
Thursday, January 03 2013, 10:42AM
“by Backdoored IT would seem one law for us and one law for them being the TAXI DRIVERS.Another perk for the TAXI DRIVERS is using the bus lane as there right to prevent them sitting in the queue of law abiding drivers, as time is money to them”
by Backdoored
Thursday, January 03 2013, 10:19AM
“@ Pensioner46
Transport Lane Longton -to which you refer (behind the Market) -has long been a problem for the Council Rat Catchers.... or 'mouse catchers'.... as it is quite apparent that the Private Hire Drivers who 'congregate' in that road -'punting for fares' -operate a 'cat and mouse' system.
They are all aware of the Parking infringements they 'live by' as a daily way of life... and as such have a sophisticated 'grapevine' system of dealing with the Council Traffic Wardens, which sends out a general 'calling all cars' warning -as soon as the first sighting of a Warden's approach is spotted on their radar system.
A total of 45 tickets have been issued in Transport Lane since August 2011. Some would argue, given the extent of the problem -that is not many -in comparison to other areas in the city such as Tower Sq Tunstall.
One thing is for sure -in Longton -and in particular in Transport Lane -the cat is losing the battle. The mice are too cute to be caught in sufficent numbers to deter. The only real solution is to suspend or take away the Drivers' Licences. They just seem to be putting two fingers up to the Council -and the Council have the power to do something about it -It is they afterall who issued the Licences in the first place.”
by pensioner46
Thursday, January 03 2013, 8:07AM
“Try sending your patrol van behind the market in Longton where TAXI'S park on double yellow lines on the bend and side by side to talk to one another. Then send it around the corner into the Strand where cars park outside Lloyd's bank on double yellow lines and in the BUS LANE.”
by Real_Stokie
Wednesday, January 02 2013, 11:41PM
“OMG, people are being caught and fined doing things they know they shouldn't. Whatever next?
Anyone who doesn't know what double yellow lines mean shouldn't have a driving licence! They are normally situated where vehicles parking would cause an obstruction. Not hard if, a) you have a modicum of common sense, and b), don't just think of yourself.
Bus lanes tend to have BUS LANE in huge writing so if you're caught using them then I would question your ability to read!”
by kcssia940
Wednesday, January 02 2013, 11:07PM
“If there are signs etc indicating parking restrictions / speed limits and you decide to ignore them you deserve a fine.
The camera car should go round by the market in longton and catch all the private hire cars
parked waiting illegaly on double yellow lines in a no loading /unloading area. The bus lane in the strand Longton always has cars parked on it.
People are nowadays so lazy they cannot be bothered to walk any further than they have to.”
by nobbynextdoor
Wednesday, January 02 2013, 10:21PM
“I could net at least 20 a day On one walk down roundwell street to the roundabout in tunstall, 20 mins max. I've even emailed multiple pictures of repeat offenders to the council, but it seems they don't care.”
by THX1138
Wednesday, January 02 2013, 8:28PM
“For me the answer is simple - keep out of Stoke-on-Trent! Since I got a car parking fine for being slightly over time I refuse to use any of their car parks, as for that CCTV vehicle hiding away waiting to catch motorists who wander into bus lanes I hang my head in shame. I once had pride in this City, now I simply laugh at what it has become. If it was not for family I would have moved away years ago and return only for the football games!”
by summertime
Wednesday, January 02 2013, 7:30PM
“England is a socialist country. It is ruled by the theory that the government should run everything. To run everything, the socialists need money. Where do they get money? taxes ! Where do taxes come from? The people's income and just about every last thing that is out there that can be taxed or fined. So, does anyone honestly think that the government in whichever form it takes, city, county, national would do anything that would help its citizens that would cut their income ?? so the need for spy cars, cameras, fines, traffic fines etc etc etc is paramount to them. They would not increase proper parking, or loading zones etc to help people, they double yellow line everything so they can collect parking fees.
To continue the economics lesson, when the economy goes bad, for whatever reason, a system that is totally dependent on tax money (in all its forms) gets into big troubledue to lack of revenue, hence the huge mess in Greece, Spain, Portugal,Italy etc etc and of course GB. Less taxes means less money for them to dole out to the masses they will do anything to increase revenue through things like Spy Cars”