A RESIDENT has launched calls for parking permits in a Bournemouth neighbourhood afteran apparant parking warden clampdown.

The small road in Bournemouth has been visited by parking wardens six times already this year after just one fine was issued there in 2021.

The ramp up in action in Wallis Road, Wallisdown, has led resident Andrew Ransome to press BCP council for parking permits.

Wallis Road is subject to a one-hour parking limit between September 15 and July 7.

Mr Ransome, 43, who moved to the area in the past couple of months, said his neighbours were shocked to see the recent parking warden action having had no such enforcement in years gone by.

BCP Council told the Daily Echo that civil enforcement officers had visited six times since the start of this year and this month alone 13 parking tickets were issued.

A recent Freedom of Information request by the Daily Echo showed just £35 was collected from fixed penalty notices in Wallis Road last year.

Mr Ransome raised the subject of parking permits for residents in the road at a recent BCP Council Facebook Live broadcast hosted by leader Cllr Drew Mellor.

“There is parking in the road limited to one hour, but it has never been enforced,” Mr Ransome told the Daily Echo.

“We have a drive which we can just about get two cars on but a lot of people who do not have drives and they are going to be left with nowhere to park.”

Mr Ransome said he spoke with one of the parking wardens who reportedly warned him that he would be coming back to the road in subsequent days. He said there are also students living in the road with multiple cars per household which would be hit hard by the enforcement.

Cllr Mellor told Mr Ransome that permits have been introduced in some parts of the conurbation but they can only be brought in as area permits rather than specific roads in isolation.

Mr Ransome has started speaking to residents in neighbouring roads to see if they would support an appeal for permits.

“If you live here you should be able to get a permit to park in the road,” said Mr Ransome.

“Someone has told me they hadn’t seen parking checked here for four years and there had never been issues like this before.”

A BCP Council spokesperson said parking enforcement was a key element of traffic management duties.

“Traffic controls and/or restrictions are introduced on the Council’s roads to ensure that routes for the general public, emergency services and services such as refuse collection are kept clear,” they added.

“These controls and restrictions are also introduced for safety reasons to ensure that sight lines for both motorists and pedestrians are maintained to minimise the likelihood of persons getting injured, seriously injured, or killed.

"If our parking enforcement teams find vehicles that are not parking in accordance with the controls and restrictions, they will issue penalty charge notices and in some instances arrange for vehicles to be physically removed.”