Ref. 26074-31WARNING leaflets the size of parking tickets are being put on parking offenders' windscreens ahead of Swindon Council's take over of traffic warden duties on September 1.

Swindon currently has a single traffic warden to cover the whole of the town and issue tickets for offences such as parking on double yellow lines and in other restricted zones, and police officers can also issue tickets.

However, when control of parking enforcement passes to the council in line with a Government scheme to free the police , there will be 34 wardens plus five senior wardens.

The council is appointing 14 extra wardens to handle the workload, and most are now in post.

The local authority's group leader for parking services, Tony Foss, said: "Our aim is to improve road safety, reduce congestion, improve the free flow of traffic, improve emergency vehicles' response times, improve the movement of buses and cyclists and improve the turnover of limited waiting parking spaces in the town centre.

"We will also improve road safety by preventing illegal parking at junctions and prevent drivers from parking on pavements, which obstructs parents with buggies and wheelchair users."

Asked about the leaflets, he said: "I want to make sure that nobody who lives or works in Swindon will be able to say from September 1 that they did not know that Swindon Council was taking over parking enforcement from the police."

When the council takes over, it will levy fines of £60 for offenders, although this will be reduced to £30 for anybody paying within 14 days.

The penalty will increase to £90 or more if no payment is made and the council has to pursue the debt.

The leaflet explains there are currently no plans to tow away vehicles, although the authority says it may in future consider doing this where the vehicles concerned are considered a danger to other road users.

Wardens will be under strict instructions that no ticket is to be withdrawn after it has been written. Any motorist who considers they have been unfairly ticketed will have the option of appealing to the council's parking administration department, which will place the matter before an independent adjudicator.