New CCTV to crack down on illegal school parking

The cameras can automatically read the number plates of drivers parked outside schools

Cameras will be installed to catch parents on the school run parking illegally as part of a city-wide trial.

Bristol City Council unanimously agreed on Thursday to introduce CCTV which can automatically read the number plates of drivers who are parked outside schools and fine them.

A council report said current enforcement was difficult, particularly as traffic wardens could not be at all 160 schools across the city.

Chris Barratt, principal of Summerhill Academy in St George, said: "It's a really complex problem. It sounds like it [CCTV] could be part of the solution."

Lincolnshire piloted a similar scheme and more than 140 school parking fines were issued in one month, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Barratt said that parents parking illegally outside his school "happens all the time".

Mr Barratt said children's safety should be prioritised

He added: "Some of them don't feel like they can help it.

"We completely understand people need to get to school and back and everyone has got a really busy life but, at the same time, we need to prioritise children getting to school safely.

"It would be best if people would be able to obey all of the traffic rules."

He added: "You can't click your fingers and solve these things otherwise someone would have done it a while ago."

Parent Nikki Macdonald, whose child attends the school, said: "The lines are there for safety, for a reason. You shouldn't park there.

"Maybe temporarily they [parents] will have to keep a beady eye on the cameras and wardens more."

Katherine Ogden, King's Oak Academy headteacher in Kingswood, said: "We do need to address the issue."

She added that traffic wardens and police only provided a "short-term effect" for them.

A council report said the cost of the scheme could be covered by money generated from parking fines.

It is not yet known when the scheme will start and how much drivers could be fined.