TRAFFIC wardens who issued 3,370 parking tickets in Barrow have been praised by a council committee.

Members of Barrow Local Committee was told that 3,373 fixed penalty notices were given out between April 2018 and the end of February 2019.

County council parking manager Austin Shields told the meeting in Barrow that some days the service operated with just one officer on duty.

“I would like to have more staff but we are looking to recruit,” said Mr Shields, who added that the service did not make a profit.

Cumbria County Council enforces “on street” parking, while Barrow Borough Council checks council-owned car parks for non-payers and over-stayers.

Cllr Helen Wall, the Labour councillor for Old Barrow, raised the problem of “random parking” near the Maritime Apartments on Barrow Island.

She said: “You would never get a fire engine around some of the streets.”

County council officials cannot move vehicles causing an obstruction but could only issue tickets, the meeting was told.

Cllr Sol Wielkopolski suggested that the need for double yellows lines on both sides of Buccleuch Street, near M&S in the town centre, needed to be looked at again.

Cllr Wielkopolski said the lines were often full of parked cars yet traffic regularly flowed without a hitch.

“With the exception of HGVs and vans, everything seemed to be flowing all right and it seems to me those double yellows are surplus to requirements,” said Cllr Wielkopolski, the Conservative councillor for Newbarns.

Officials said traffic regulations orders – stipulating double yellow lines – could be revisited.

Cllr Roy Worthington, the Conservative councillor for Hawcoat, said: “I get lots of complaints from taxi drivers about people parking on ranks, particularly the one at the top of Dalton Road and taxi drivers can’t get on.”

Committee chairman Kevin Hamilton,  the Labour councillor for Risedale, praised the service for its “fantastic work” in cracking down on poor parking.