Motorists have been handed an unexpected ‘amnesty’ after fading yellow lines in a Fenland town have made it impossible for police to enforce parking and stopping restrictions.
The ‘blitzed out’ lines are on Wenny Road, Chatteris, and are there to keep traffic flowing and to stop parents parking to drop off students at the Cromwell Community College.
However the yellow lines – banning parking for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon- are hardly visible and, according to police, no longer enforceable.
Respite though could be short lived as Cambridgeshire County Council prepares to spend £22,000 on improvements outside the school.
A council spokesman said: “We have not been contacted by the police about the condition of the road outside the school.
“It was not raised at a previous inspection of it with the local PCSO.
“We have carried out lining work to help enforcement on another section of Wenny Road as asked for by the police and local residents.
“We will also be carrying out a £22,000 scheme outside the school to improve safety and this will include refreshing and possibly altering some of the lines. We have asked for a meeting with the police and local councillors to discuss this.”
The spokesman added: “We’re talking to the police to see if interim measures can be taken ready for the scheme to be implemented in the school summer holidays.”
The spokesman said this would be at a time “when the works will cause the least disruption to the travelling public and the college.”
March police sergeant Martin Monger raised the issue this week with Councillor Steve Count, leader elect of Cambridgeshire County Council.
Cllr Count said: “I contacted the county council on April 28 to see what if anything was being done and who had reported it.
“The following day the response to me outlined an email to Chatteris Town Council on April 25; they had been successful in securing £10,000 of CCC money under the Local Highways Improvement scheme plus £11,000 from delivering transport aims budget plus (I assume £1,000) contribution from the town council.
“A request for a meeting in the next two weeks to determine best use was proposed, Joanna Melton, the clerk, has to date been the only reply.
“On May 2 I forwarded the information to Sergeant Martin Monger with the simple message ‘appears to all be in hand’.”
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