Councillors express concern over parking ticket boom
MILDENHALL Parish council chairman Brian Sulman is disappointed over the rise in the number of parking tickets being handed out across the town.
At Thursday's Mildenhall Parish Council meeting Pc Helen Self, of Mildenhall Safer Neighbourhood Team, revealed that since the beginning of February 73 parking tickets had been issued across the town, with 17 handed out on one day.
Up until now the average number of tickets handed out had been around 20 a month.
Many of the offenders had been caught parked on single and double yellow lines with three even caught parking in designated disabled bays.
Pc Self told the meeting that the rise had been seen since the start of building work occurring in the town's Recreation Way car park to accommodate the new Sainsbury's store which is due to open in late 2010.
Areas which have seen an increase in illegal parking have been St Andrews Street by Sainsbury's, on the High Street opposite Barclays Bank and in the Market Square.
Cllr Sulman, said: "It is very disappointing to hear. We can understand that while there is a shortage of parking spaces in the town parking may be a bit of a problem. I think what drivers have to be is a bit more patient and just wait for a space to become available.
"I have been down the town at peak times and been able to find a space even if waiting for a bit."
It is hoped that the problem will be alleviated in a couple of months time when work is completed on a new 207 bay temporary town car park which is being constructed on an area of the Jubilee Fields.
"Once the temporary car park is finished in late April or early May it will ease the situation a bit. But we won't be able to come to a real solution until the end of the year when the whole development is complete."
"The police have a job to do and that is make sure that traffic keeps moving. It is just unfortunate that those persistently doing it are not always getting caught."
Last month the Journal reported that several shopkeepers and market traders had noticed their trade fall since building work had started in the car park on the construction of the new multi-million pound supermarket, with some seeing the takings drop by nearly 20 per cent.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Newmarket
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 5 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
