Parking wardens armed with cameras will patrol the school gate to snap parents flouting road rules.

Up to 40 wardens will this month begin monitoring secondary and primary schools in Brighton and Hove.

If parents are caught on camera breaching parking restrictions they will be automatically sent a £75 fine in the post.

They will not receive notice of the fine before it drops through the letterbox.

Wardens had previously been required to slap the penalty notice on the windscreen.

The move, which has cross-party support, follows complaints from angry parents who fear a child could get seriously hurt if drivers continue to park on zigzag and yellow lines while collecting their children from school.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said parents were “irate” at bad parking, adding that there had been a number of “near misses”.

Keep clear markings

Councillor Ian Davey, chairman of the Transport Committee, said: “This is about the safety of the city’s 30,000 schoolchildren.

“It’s illegal and dangerous to park or stop on school ‘Keep Clears’ and from this term parking wardens across the city will issue instant fines by taking photos and logging registration numbers of the minority of motorist who put the lives of our children at risk by stopping illegally next to schools.”

“Keep Clears” are zones outside schools where parents cannot stop to drop off their children.

Coun Davey added: “If you need to drive to school, we request that you park safely, legally and considerately.

“As well as not stopping, dropping off or parking on school ‘Keep Clears’, this also means not double parking, not parking on corners or junctions near the school entrance and not blocking driveways.”

About 60 schools out of 100 in Brighton and Hove have ‘Keep Clear’ zigzags, which will be the focus of the new ticketing crackdown.

Patcham High School in Ladies Mile Road, Brighton, is one school where parking wardens will patrol.

Headteacher Paula Sargent told parents: “There will be visits from CEOs [parking wardens] to our school over the coming weeks to enforce the school ‘Keep Clears’.

“Remember the ‘Keep Clears’ are there for safety – to ensure clear sight lines for both motorists and children, as well as for other road users, outside schools. They provide a clear area in which children and adults can cross more safely.

“It is illegal to park or stop on school ‘Keep Clears’.”

Coombe Road Primary in Coombe Road, Brighton, issued a warning to parents to park safely after a crash recently when a 20-year-old woman was knocked off a bike.

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