MOTORISTS in Barnard Castle have been angered after enforcement officers began issuing warning tickets on vehicles parked in an on-street parking bay.
One resident was “gobsmacked” when he got back to his vehicle to find the penalty charge notice attached to the windscreen of his vehicle left at the roadside outside King’s Court care home, in Market Place. He added: “I got the shock of my life when I saw the ticket on my windscreen because I’d only been there a few minutes not hours. When I opened it up, it said it was a warning saying I shouldn’t be parked there as it was a disabled bay and I would be fined is I did it again.
“The was no indication it was a disabled spot when I pulled in. There’s no sign on the road and it was only when I really went looking for the sign that I managed to spot it, against the wall of the building.”
Last year Durham County Council made a raft of changes to parking areas in Barnard Castle.
Among the changes was the creation of a roadside disabled bay in Market Place following requests from residents. Dave Wafer, strategic traffic manager at Durham County Council, said: “This is a relatively recent change that we have introduced to provide more parking in Barnard Castle town centre for people with blue badges.
“Although signage has been installed, the disabled road marking has not yet been introduced. For this reason, we have only been issuing motorists with warning letters asking them not to park in the bay. The road markings are scheduled to be introduced on Monday, March 9, after which anyone parked in the bay without a blue badge will be liable to a penalty charge notice.”
