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Over 100 drivers a month are being issued with fines from a CCTV council car, after they had been caught parking on double yellow lines, on pedestrian crossings and in loading bays. The aptly named spy car which was created by Stoke on Trent's City Council has in the last 18 months issued 1,813 fines between £50 and £70 for such offences.
Motorists from Stoke, Tunstall and Londton town centres have been the worst hit by the spy car. These fines are actually in addition to 8,074 penalties which were given to motorists who were found to be driving in the bus lanes of the City. The Council have been accused however of using the spy car as a tool to make money and actually not to do good around the City.
The car has so far issued upto 688 fines in the Tower Square area of Tunstall, 224 in Hill Street of Stoke, 173 in the Market Place of Burslem and 76 in College Road, Shelton.
The Chamber of Trade Chairman of Tunstall Bill Macdonald, owns Copy-Car. He explained that he sees the car rather a lot around the city as it seems to appear several times a day. He believes that it appears to target easier areas guaranteed to be able to make money, rather than issuing the spy car to areas in which there is a real problem. The car is said to be an excellent tool if it is used in the right way and not just to try and make as much money as possible. There appears to be a struggle when it comes to parking in the town centre, as save our Stoke campaign co-ordinator Graham Barrett says that drivers are deciding against the car parks issued for shoppers and users of the town centre due to the high charges that come with parking there.
The council is not favouring itself in any way by ensuring that parking for drivers is so expensive. People are deciding to park anywhere other than the issued car parks to simply avoid the charges. It appears to be only recently that drivers who park on yellow lines for a matter of minutes are being caught due to the CCTV cars. Complaints have been made stating that the council spend such a high amount of money on cars such as this, that charging people fines are a way to making their money back.
Ruth Rosenau, City Councillor and cabinet member for transportation explains that the car is there to ensure that parking restrictions are taken seriously. It is clearly marked to stop motorists from making the wrong decision when it comes to parking or driving in restricted areas, which cause safety issues on the road, congestion and obstructions for other users of the road.