Traffic wardens to return to Dumfries and Galloway after a decade
The council is expected to get powers to issue parking fines by the end of the year, after complaints of 'near anarchy' on Dumfries streets.
High Street, Dumfries. File photo. · Photograph: The wub (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Traffic wardens are set to return to Dumfries and Galloway by the end of the year, more than a decade after they were taken off the region's streets.
The council is one of a minority of Scottish local authorities without Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE), which lets councils employ their own wardens to issue penalty notices. It applied for the powers in June last year, and Transport Scotland has now said they are expected to be in place by the end of 2026.
'Near anarchy'
The region's wardens were withdrawn after a review that followed the creation of Police Scotland in 2013. Since then, illegal and dangerous parking has become a regular complaint, particularly in Dumfries.
Earlier this year, councillor Linda Dorward told the Nithsdale area committee that parking restrictions in the town were routinely ignored and that the double yellow lines might as well not exist.
Police have said they do not have the capacity to carry out regular parking patrols, but will target problem areas when there are no higher priority incidents.
What happens next
Once the powers are in place, the council will decide when enforcement begins. Some councils have given drivers a grace period with warning notices before issuing fines, which Transport Scotland said was a matter for the local authority.
Dumfries and Galloway will become the 24th of Scotland's 32 councils to have the powers. Transport Scotland said no other councils are currently applying.