BCP bus operators call for harsher illegal parking fines

Amid the chaos on the roads around Bournemouth beach over the weekend, particularly Sunday, several key bus services were forced to terminate early due to “dangerous” driving conditions with hundreds of cars parked on pavements, double yellow lines and bends.

“Congestion is the bane of our lives,” said David Squire, managing director at Yellow Buses, who feels until proper deterrents to illegal parking are introduced the situation will never improve.

He told the Echo: “We have regular meetings with BCP Council and they have a summer plan to keep roads open but as we saw yesterday (Sunday), this failed miserably.

“The reality for us was that our Busters Beach Bus open-top service was severely delayed with buses running up to an hour late. The rest of the bus network suffered due to town centre congestion that went on well into the evening.

“Until we have a proper system of decriminalised parking with proactive deterrents and tow-aways happening regularly, it is hard to see how we will ever overcome the hot weather day chaos that happens every year and is not just restricted to the summer school holidays.

“Our staff do a sterling job in trying to keep things going against all the odds but sometimes, as happened on Sunday, they simply run out of options and the travelling public suffer through no fault of ours.

“This coming weekend the schools break up and, quite frankly, we are dreading the congestion that we know is coming but can do very little about.”

Yellow Buses vehicle sandwiched between cars in East Overcliff Drive, Bournemouth

These fears were seconded by Morebus general manager Richard Wade, who agreed a “reform” of parking fines was key. He said: “We suffered significant traffic delays over the course of the weekend.

“On Sunday afternoon in particular, Bath Road and Bath Hill were simply not moving – so we had to divert Bournemouth bound services via other roads and apologise to anyone waiting at the two stops that we could not get to.

“Illegal parking on the pavements and on double yellow lines on Bournemouth East Cliff meant we were unable to pass other vehicles along that section and we had to withdraw our Breezer 70, which is extremely disappointing.

“People who park illegally tend to be those who never drive anything bigger than a car. Anyone considering doing so should remember parking restrictions exist for a reason. It could have been a fire engine or an ambulance unable to get through, rather than a bus.

Morebus vehicles (Image: Daily Echo)

“At Shell Bay, cars were left on the edge of the roundabout near the ferry offices and also along narrow sections of Ferry Road making it very difficult for our buses to squeeze through. We kept our Breezer 50 service on route thanks to our drivers using all of their skill to negotiate tight gaps. This causes delays in itself, and puts our drivers under undue pressure.

“I feel part of the problem is that parking fines are too low for current spending levels. I would urge some reform, which I believe is above the capability of local authorities, to significantly increase this level of fine.”

BCP Councillor Beverly Dunlop told the Echo on Sunday that, while the council cannot change parking fine limits, they have been “lobbying hard” to do so.

She said: “The leader of the council and our PCC has written to ministers, but these things take time.

“It’s known that if you pay these fines within 14 days it is actually less money, so it’s really not much of a deterrent. But we really are trying to make it more costly for illegal parkers.”