ANGER over the manner in which parking rules are being enforced has spread from Northallerton to Thirsk.

Just weeks after a Northallerton publican was handed a fixed penalty notice for parking at 9.15pm in the loading bay outside his pub that he had used without any problems for 13 years, and after a motorist was fined after breaking down on double yellow lines at 8.30pm, residents and traders in Thirsk have voiced fury over the behaviour of “Draconian and rude” parking wardens.

A Thirsk Town Council meeting heard the situation came to a head one day with a local motorist being confronted immediately after parking on the Market Place cobbles.

“The parking warden refused to believe that he had just arrived there, saying he had been there a good two hours and started writing a ticket, so the motorist had to move his car,” said one councillor.

Other instances of overly-zealous enforcement in the town, the meeting heard, included a delivery driver being told he could not unload 11 boxes from his van, and another driver being fined for parking on yellow lines while getting change for a parking meter.

Members of North Yorkshire and Hambleton District councils, which employ wardens hired by Scarborough Borough Council, have told Spectator that, while motorists who block key access points need to be dealt with, the style of enforcement is not in keeping with market towns and is causing significant embarrassment.

Spectator understands Scarborough Council has carried out an investigation into the actions of one parking warden after receiving complaints, but found no wrongdoing.