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Call for more wardens to tackle dangerous parking

BBC A black car and a white van parked on a pavement in Liverpool near to traffic lights.BBC
The Liberal Democrats have previously called for an "army of traffic wardens" to the problem

Community wardens should be introduced across Liverpool to tackle the city's ongoing problems with illegal parking, littering and dog fouling, the leader of the city's Liberal Democrat party has said.

Councillor Carl Cashman has renewed pressure on the Labour-run authority to increase the number of traffic wardens across the city, not just focused on the city centre.

He said more enforcement would deter dangerous parking.

A Liverpool City Council representative said the council was actively recruiting new wardens and it had reached nearly half of its jobs target.

Richard Clein A black car parked on the corner of a street blocking access for pedestrians on the pavementRichard Clein
Liverpool City Council said a traffic warden recruitment process was underway

"This issue isn't only something that happens in the city centre," Mr Cashman said.

"People get frustrated they aren't seeing a parking warden outside of the city centre."

He said he was aware of blind people in West Derby who struggle to navigate pavements due to parked cars and mothers in Wavertree being forced into the road while pushing prams due to cars parked on the pavement.

"It's a safety issue," he said.

He called on drivers to "have more awareness of how their parking might affect other people".

Liverpool Liberal Democrats Carl Cashman has short blonde hair and is wearing a navy suit, a white shirt and a navy tie with white dots. He is stood in from of Liverpool's Town Hall.Liverpool Liberal Democrats
Carl Cashman said dangerous parking was a safety issue across the city

Figures from 2024 showed there were 49 traffic wardens employed in Liverpool with 38 full-time traffic wardens and 11 agency staff.

In a statement a Liverpool City Council representative said: "We are currently engaged in a recruitment process to appoint new parking enforcement officers.

"We have offered jobs to 19 successful applicants so far, nearly half of our recruitment target.

"Eight new starters are on the ground and operational already. The remaining 11 are being trained up or shadowing fully trained staff, but will be fully operational in the next couple of weeks.

"We expect all positions to be filled within the next six months at the latest."

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