Month blitz on parking launched

A one-month trial blitz on parking offenders at Bourton-on-the-Water has begun.

The parish council demanded more enforcement from Cotswold District Council parking attendants because the village was becoming gridlocked as motorists flouted restrictions.

Parish councillor Tim Faulkner said the unchecked situation was "horrendous", especially on bank holidays.

Fellow councillor Chris Short called for a concentrated effort for a month, particularly at weekends in the busy tourist village, to monitor its effect.

But Mr Faulkner said Bourton's gain would be other communities' loss because of a lack of general cover.

Parish and district councillor Sheila Jeffery (C. Bourton) justified the village being the focus of attention.

She said: "The impact is here at Bourton and Lower Slaughter is the next overloaded village with people parking on yellow lines and grass verges.

"Cotswold District Council are making a conscious effort to do everything we asked for."

But she said the real test would be a bank holiday or the school holidays when traffic was heavier, which would not happen in July.

Parish council vice-chairman Bryan Sumner called for the district council to reveal how much parking fines added up to, as the village itself did not benefit from them.