Beware the night shift ...

PNE fans hit by late-night traffic wardens
Lancashire Evening Post
Four wardens work 'beats' in Preston and each do an eight-hour shift
02 April 2010

Traffic wardens in Preston are working late shifts to police parking at events like football matches and music gigs, bosses have revealed.

Lancashire Parking Services, which is responsible for on-street parking enforcement in the city, said wardens' eight-hour shifts are spread over a 24-hour period.And Preston North End home games or other special events like music gigs are examples of when wardens might work evening shifts.

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Parking Services said there are usually four wardens working 'beats' in Preston, each doing an eight-hour shift.

She said: "They will normally work eight hours a day, however this is spread over a 24-hour period and will depend on the restrictions, the need for effective traffic management and enforcing where road safety is paramount."It also depends on any special events taking place in the city, eg football matches/music events etc, and whether there are repeated requests for enforcement from residents that need to be factored in to their 'beats' and hours of working."

She added: "Event organisers can work with us when they are planning their events to manage their parking provision and facilities near to where the event is taking place. "Usually, this will mean that we need to suspend enforcement of bays or provide more dispensations to ensure that there is adequate availability of spaces for the number of people being in a single location at a given time. "This doesn't necessarily mean that we will be issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs)."But events usually require that additional work is carried out to erect temporary signage to advise motorists of temporary restrictions or to suspend parking enforcement in particular areas."

Neil Herron, of campaign group Parking Appeals, said such enforcement needs to be transparent. He said: "If they are going to target events because they know there will be a lot of people there they have got to send a message loud and clear through the local press that this is what they are going to do – and for the first couple of months give out warning notices instead of tickets. "If they don't do that then it just smacks of revenue raising."

A spokesman for Preston Council, which is now in charge of enforcement car parks, said: "We have shifts and rotas to cover parking in our car parks." But he said no extra wardens are sent out when there big events at venues like the Guild Hall.

Coun Anthony Gornall, deputy leader of the council, said: "People should observe the rules if there are parking restrictions in place."