Medway Council's CCTV car has been used to catch illegal parkers since 2008. Photo: Martin Duncan

by Lizzie Massey

Parents who park illegally outside schools, putting children’s lives in danger, will soon find themselves hit with a fine thanks to a hi-tech roving camera.

A new traffic enforcement vehicle, fitted with the latest technology to film while moving, will soon be prowling the streets of Dartford.

It will transmit footage back to the council offices, where it will be monitored and fines will be issued.

The car will be used outside all 64 schools in the borough after repeated complaints from parents and teachers about the ongoing and “extremely dangerous” issue of people parking on yellow zigzag lines.

News of the mobile car camera was revealed during a Dartford council cabinet meeting.

Council leader Jeremy Kite (Con) said: “Other councils which use this vehicle often do it wrong and I don’t want people to think this is a money-making scheme.

“It’s about tackling a particular problem we have outside schools, changing behaviours and potentially saving a child’s life.”

He continued: “Every morning people’s thoughtless parking puts children’s lives in jeopardy, forcing them to dodge in and out of cars.

School zigzag lines at St Edmunds Road, Dartford

“Those lines aren’t there for fun. They’re sight lines for people to be able to cross the road.”

The high-resolution, height-extendable, 360-degree pan and tilt zoom camera will be used mostly outside schools but may make an appearance at large public events such as the Dartford Festival.

Currently, civil enforcement officers (CEOs) do have a vehicle they use while on mobile patrol but if they spot an offence, by the time they have parked their own car safely, got out and walked over to the illegally parked vehicle to ticket it, the driver has normally moved on.

"i hate the idea of being a snooping council, but where children’s safety is involved we have to take measures" – council leader cllr jeremy kite

The camera car captures photos of offences while on the move and sends the evidence back to the civic centre immediately.

The camera car will be trialled within the next six months, and then a decision made as to whether to make it permanent.

The council is still considering how to pay for the equipment.

One option is to buy it outright at a cost of £50,000 and pay it off over two years with the revenue from the 100 penalty charge notices (PCNs) it is estimated will be issued each week. The council gets an average of £30 income from each PCN.

Another option is to sign a three-year contract with an outside supplier and pay it a proportion of each PCN issued.

Cllr Kite said: “I hate the idea of being a snooping council, but where children’s safety is involved we have to take measures.

“If we don’t issue any tickets in the two or three years then great, it’s worked as a deterrent.

“If we do issue tickets then great it’s worked because they’ll think twice about parking there again.”

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