PARKING fines amounting to more than £109,000 have been imposed on shoppers in Penarth town centre since the arrival of Parking Enforcement Officers.

Penarth councillor Anthony Ernest (Plymouth), who asked the Vale council how many parking tickets had been issued in the town centre, said that the level of fines handed down to motorists in central Penarth was "quite astounding", and showed that previous promises to give “guidance” to those who might have inadvertently parked in error had not been carried out.

Michael Clogg, operational manager for highways at the Vale council, told the Penarth Times earlier this year that the authority would be reviewing the road markings and signage to ensure they were in good working order after local residents complained the parking restrictions were "misleading".

Former Town Mayor Cllr Ernest said: “I had a number of constituents complain to me about receiving a fine for parking outside the Co-Operative and Sainsburys’ supermarkets in the bays that are partly for unloading and partly for Limited Waiting at different times of the day, and that they were unaware of the differing restrictions on the very short length of road outside these shops.

"Following these complaints I asked the Vale Council, which is responsible for the traffic officers, firstly how many tickets had been issued, and the reply was 710, of which a few may have been cancelled. This figure included the bay outside the Nationwide Building Society, which is similarly restricted like the other two bays."

He added: "In response to my question about how much 'advice' had been offered, no figures were available, but officers are 'fair and consistent' according to the Vale.

"I then asked on what traffic related issues the fines had been spent, in accordance with the regulations, and the answer was that the scheme had made a loss and that nothing had been spent on improving traffic conditions.

"Finally, in reply to a further question about the difficulties being experienced by motorists who are caught by this non-standard form of parking regulation where for part of the day they are Unloading Bays and the rest of the day available for anybody to park, the council said that it is “reviewing the signs to establish if there is any way in which they can be altered or made clearer.”

Michael Clogg added: "The line markings and sign plates provided for the bays along Windsor Road conform to current standards and the sign text clearly states that the bays are for loading only on Monday to Saturday, 6am to midday. This arrangement has existed for several years."

Cllr Ernest added that the image of a town centre beset by unfair parking restrictions was having a very bad effect on people coming to shop in Penarth, and those who had spoken to him were "absolutely furious" about the "misleading restrictions", saying that they would not use the town centre shops again, but rather go to the out of town supermarkets with “their acres of free parking.”

He added: “I shall continue to press the Vale to urgently review the signage in the centre and greatly improve their efforts to educate rather than penalise innocent motorists who come into Penarth to spend money in our local businesses. Regrettably, with the failure of the Business Improvement District project, no one organisation exists to seek change to improve the business climate in our town."