Swearing parking wardens criticised by MP

Cat Eccles said she had seen wardens swear at and belittle people they dealt with

An MP has claimed she personally saw parking wardens swearing at people they dealt with and ignoring the rules they should be enforcing.

Cat Eccles, MP for Stourbridge and a Dudley councillor, told a council meeting she had intervened in an incident in her constituency and "received the same poor attitude and bad language".

Along with introducing parking charges last year, the authority also hired a private contractor to enforce parking rules to boost the number of wardens on borough streets.

Dudley cabinet member Simon Phipps told the meeting he had asked senior managers to raise the issue with the contractor, adding it was "unacceptable".

After the meeting, the Labour MP described the incident she became involved in earlier this year in Stourbridge.

She said: "There was a dispute between some traders and the warden over the warden parking on double yellow lines on a corner.

"The warden was swearing at the traders, I intervened and... they said they can 'do what they like'."

Eccles added she and other people had been reporting incidents to the council throughout the year.

Simon Phipps said he would raise the issue with contractors

Phipps, the councillor responsible for economy and infrastructure, told Monday's meeting: "It is something that has been brought to my attention.

"Originally, when I saw the correspondence I didn't realise the volume of the incidents and the type of behaviour that had been reported.

"There are times where they have to respond to calls where they may need to park on double yellow lines or things like that.

"It is allowed but they should only do that by exception."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.