Traffic wardens to target people parking on Wirral’s grass verges

Nov 25 2009 by Liam Murphy, Bromborough and Bebington News

Motorists can expect tickets for parking on grass verges

MOTORISTS parking on grass verges can expect to get parking tickets after council officials moved towards extending areas targeted by traffic wardens.

The first stage of a pilot scheme – approved by Wirral council two years ago – concentrating on six roads in the borough is now to be extended.

Teehey Lane, Kings Lane and Kings Road, Bebington; Woodchurch Road, Prenton; Holm Lane, Oxton; and Bayswater Road, Wallasey; were among the first to be targeted. At least 25 parking tickets have been handed out since the pilot project started, although that figure could be higher.

A council report said that, in Woodchurch Road, it was “not possible to differentiate pavement parking offences from those occurring on the road”.

The report to the council’s sustainable communities committee now recommends a second phase of the scheme begins, taking in Townfield Lane and Storeton Road, Oxton; Frankby Road, Frankby; Greasby Road, Greasby; Leasowe Road, Leasowe; and Pensby Road, Pensby.

The report, by director of technical services David Green, said the selected routes all have off-street parking, such as private drives.

It also said they all mainly have paving flags, which are liable to crack and displace if driven over, leaving the council exposed to potential compensation claims for tripping.

It added: “A number of the locations also have grass verges within the limits of the pavement.

“The verges are also used for unnecessary parking, causing damage which makes them unsightly and impassable at this time of the year.”

The report said the emergency services and Merseytravel said they had concerns that effectively restricting traffic by forcing vehicles to park fully on the road may cause problems.

But Mr Green said that, since the introduction of the pilot restrictions, none of the services had suggested to the council they had experienced any problems.