A call has been made for cameras to be installed to tackle illegal parking across Trowbridge's town centre.
Town councillor and mayor Stephen Cooper has said the issue of vehicles parking illegally around town has got to “epidemic proportions”, with delivery drivers and private motorists flaunting parking restrictions.
The mayor said there are hotspots across the town that have become particularly bad, including a “constant stream” of delivery vehicles parked along Castle Street.
Speculating on how to tackle the issue he said: “I don’t know what the solution is. Can Wiltshire not put in some kind of ANPR enforcement cameras?”
He added: “It’s not so much parking on double yellow lines, its deliveries and cars that actually pull onto pavements to park.
“This is particularly bad on Fore Street and on the run down from Manvers Street to Wicker Hill as well as on Castle Street.
“Down Castle Street, you’ve got a number of takeaways where delivery drivers park on the pavement.”
Cllr Cooper continued by saying that parking obstructing pavements on one stretch of town could put pedestrians in danger: “The stretch along Fore Street down to Wicker Hill is a nightmare.
“It’s tradesmen, it’s deliveries, it’s cars, it’s everyone down there. You get vans wholly left on the pavement while you get tradesmen working in the building.
“Where you have wagons pulling onto the pavement, and I have seen people in wheelchairs and mothers with buggies unable to get past and walking out into the road.
“It’s just treated as a free for all and it really is becoming a problem.”
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He also said that there was a lack of traffic wardens covering the area.
He said: “I appreciate they need to do their jobs. What you don’t need to do is get takeaway drivers pulling up along Castle Street.
“Certainly, down at St Stephen’s Place, there is the deliveries only lay by. No, it isn’t big enough, but maybe they have to schedule their deliveries to be staggered.
“But it’s an argument that at the end of the day the law is the law, and they shouldn’t be stopping in the no waiting area and pulling up on the pavement.”
Wiltshire Council has been contacted for comment.
In February, this paper reported that persistent issues with illegal parking in the town centre had incited councillors to call for tighter enforcement.
On Thursday, February 6, Cllr Edward Kirk, who was then Conservative ward member for Adcroft, told the Wiltshire Times that illegal parking, such as in loading bays and on double-yellow lines is an issue that has “ruined” parts of Trowbridge’s town centre.
At the time, the then-leader of the town council Cllr Stewart Palmen added that illegal parking was still a big issue facing the town centre, and that while efforts are being made to tackle it, more needs to be done to deter it.
Cllr Palmen added: “I did recently see a car there that had received a fine, so it’s clear they do patrols, but it’s just not frequent enough.”
In response, Cllr Nick Holder, who was then cabinet member for highways, had said: “We vigorously enforce all loading bays across Wiltshire to ensure they remain accessible for those carrying our deliveries, and haven’t received any complaints recently from businesses in Trowbridge.”
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