MORE parking tickets, more clamping and more money for public transport and road safety schemes are expected as the council announces a crackdown on irresponsible drivers.

Potentially life-threatening delays for ambulances and fire engines, traffic jams and difficulties for pedestrians trying to cross congested roads are some of the effects of illegal parking.

Hitting back against the culprits, the council is to bring in new CCTV cameras trained on hot spots blighted by parking problems.

There will be nowhere to hide for drivers who flout the rules when the 22 cameras go on line over the next few months.

Registrations will be traced and tickets issued in the post to drivers.

Parking attendants will also be alerted by radio link to remove or clamp vehicles causing dangerous obstructions.

Cllr David Blunt, cabinet member for environment, said: "The rules are simple. If people park illegally they will be given a parking ticket. It's a fair system and it works in the interests of the community.

"Drivers who park illegally have to face the consequences."

In the last year around 130,000 parking tickets were issued across Waltham Forest, but the problem of unregistered cars and "cloned" number plates has led to difficulties in collecting the fine payments.

A council spokesman said: "We hope to clamp or remove more vehicles because that guarantees we collect the fines. Unregistered vehicles are often associated with drivers who are breaking other laws.

"We receive hundreds of letters from people who have been given a ticket but were not using the car at the time. Fake number plates are a growing problem."

When the Guardian went out to Hoe Street, Walthamstow, with Cllr Blunt, in five minutes and a distance of 100 metres, a total of seven illegally parked cars were spotted.

Cllr Blunt commented: "This just shows the scale of the problem. Cars are parked in bus lanes, blocking bus stops and causing obstructions at junctions. This sort of situation is happening every day in the borough."

Other busy shopping areas in Waltham Forest have similar problems, and during term-time the roads near schools are particularly affected by inconsiderate parking.

The council spokesman said: "It's not about the council making money from parking tickets, it's about making roads safe for the community.

"Cars parked in bus lanes cause huge delays and tailbacks. The knock-on effects are more delays in other roads lots of people suffer from the irresponsibility of just one driver."

Parking attendants will be at the sharp end of the tough enforcement policies, but Cllr Blunt has urged drivers not to take out their frustrations on people who are just trying to do their job. A new partnership between the police and NCP, the parking control company, means that on some patrols, attendants are accompanied by police, occasionally wearing plain clothes and monitoring the situation from a short distance away.

The council spokesman said: "We get reports every week of attendants being spat at and given verbal abuse. Sometimes we have reports of physical assaults. One attendant ended up with a broken leg after being mown down by an angry driver. The message is that we take these incidents very seriously and we will prosecute."

Cllr Blunt said: "All of the money raised from the penalties is ring fenced. That means it goes towards highway projects, improving public transport, controlled parking zone schemes, and safer routes to schools. It does not bump up the council's budget."

The spokesman added: "The parking attendants are not, and will not be, given commissions for issuing fines. Targets are set but they are based on the number of tickets we believe can reasonably be given out. Bonuses are not given for ticket issuing."

"The parking attendants are not, and will not be, given commissions for issuing fines".

DRIVERS can follow a few easy steps to avoid getting clamped. These are examples of offences that may lead to penalties:

  • Parking on yellow lines
  • Parking in permit bays without permits
  • Parking in pay and display car parks without displaying a ticket
  • Not parking wholly within a marked bay
  • Obstructing a vehicle crossover without permission
  • Parking over dropped kerbs
  • Parking at bus stops
  • Parking on the pavement or verges that are not specifically exempt
  • Parking on zig-zag and school keep clear markings.