Anger around parking in a town has led to action after Cumbria County Council increased parking patrols following pleas from the community.

Residents have raised fears over parking issues in Dalton, which are said to be getting worse as time goes by.

Dalton’s Community Action Group has raised concern over the levels of illegal parking in the town, with drivers said to be regularly parking on pavements amid swelling car parks.

Group chairman Dave Taylor said he and his wife Tracy were ‘frustrated’ after she was issued with a ticket having parked on Market Street for three minutes to deliver food to shielding relatives.

He said: “I get hundreds of emails about parking.

“We have a mega problem and there’s no solution.

“Dalton was built as a market town for horses and carts so we’re always going to have this issue with parking.

“I don’t think anyone has a solution.

“Every week people have been parking on pavements and nothing’s been happening.

“You stay for three minutes and this happens.

“We are hoping for a parking warden between 6pm and 8pm on Tudor Square when it’s busiest.”

Councillor Ben Shirley has been working on finding solution to parking problems in the town.

He said: “For a number of years parking has become progressively worse for residents in Dalton.

“We’ve come together with community and the council to find a practical solution that would work for anyone.

“Practical steps have been taken over years to improve the situation but there’s still more that can be done.”

A Cumbria County Council spokesman said: “The highways department has been engaging with the local member Cllr Shirley and the local community and have increased parking enforcement officer patrols in Dalton.”

He said officers would be focusing mainly on high-level parking offences and that traffic officers must observe illegal parking for at least five minutes and that they cannot consider the circumstances of illegal acts of parking.