1:10pm Wednesday 21st July 2010
By James Wallin
A parking ticket was issued every seven and a half minutes on the first morning of new restrictions in Kemp Town.
Motorists have accused parking wardens of “harassing” them and said more warnings should have been issued before the tickets began to fly.
Forty tickets were dished out on Monday in the first five hours of new extensions to Zone H, around the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, which includes a mixture of resident parking permits and pay-and-display zones.
For Marcus Bevan, who was doing building work at a house in Bristol Road, it meant moving his van every two hours.
He said: “The wardens harass you. They’re straight on you as soon as you’re a few minutes over. It means I lose a lot of time driving around looking for a space instead of getting on with my work.”
Thomas Buzzing, 38, from Hove, narrowly avoided a ticket when he returned to his car on Bristol Gardens with seconds to spare.
He said: “I can understand they’ve got a job to do but sometimes there’s no reasoning. Forty tickets in a few hours is a bit over the top. Issuing warnings would have been a good idea on the first day.”
Arun District Council began its new parking enforcement programme this month with a two-week “amnesty”, in which motorists were handed parking tickets with no charges on them.
But according to Coun Geoffrey Theobald, cabinet member for environment at Brighton and Hove City Council, motorists were suitably warned.
He said: “Parking wardens issued 600 warning letters to drivers last week in the run up the scheme going live. In addition, work has been going on since early June putting up signs and painting lines.
“Also every resident living in the area will have received a letter with information about the scheme, and inviting them to apply for a permit.”
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