Turn off your engine if these guys are around
It is now possible to be fined for leaving your engine idling in Manchester.
In a new scheme being piloted by Manchester City Council over the next six months, 12 Traffic Wardens have the power to fine drivers £80 if they are caught.
However, a predictable row is brewing as to how long the wardens will wait before issuing a fine, and what proof they might need to back it all up.The council will review the environmental benefits at the end of the scheme, although there’s no word on how this will be done.
Neil Swannick, the council’s executive member for environment, stressed the green aims of the scheme. "Parking attendants already play a vital role in the city centre on a number of non-parking related issues such as combating vehicle crime and preventing the fraudulent use of blue badges," he said. "Parking will still be their number one priority."
"But as the eyes and ears of the city it would seem sensible to explore the value of providing them with additional powers to use, whenever necessary, as they go about their main duties. Our aim to become the greenest city in the UK will certainly be strengthened by using all the resources that we have to make the city centre a cleaner and greener place to live, shop, work and do business in."
James Pritchard, communications manager from NCP Services, which provides traffic enforcement and transport management, said: "We believe our attendants already make a contribution towards the orderliness of Manchester’s streets. Hopefully this pilot can only increase the benefits they bring."