A DANSON Festival-goer has accused parking wardens of "hunting in packs" to catch out nearly 100 people during the festivities.

Andy Heward attended the festival on both Saturday and Sunday (July 6 and 7) to see his daughter Jaimee, 14, and niece Tianna, 7, perform on the dance stage.

Like many revellers he parked his car in one of the streets off Danson Road before heading over to enjoy the festivities.

But the 41-year-old was dismayed to find groups of wardens ticketing cars instead of telling their owners about temporary parking restrictions along Bean Road and other residential streets.

The Church Road, Bexleyheath, resident told News Shopper: "The wardens were walking around hunting in packs.

"They were waiting around street corners for people to park who didn’t understand the restrictions. On one day I saw five of them together.

"Residents were getting quite irate about their behaviour and were putting up their own signs to warn people."

The operations manager for London Ambulance Service claims there were not enough signs explaining restrictions including six lampposts in a row along Bean Road without any.

News Shopper:

A warden eyes up snapper Andy Heward. 

He said: "The whole thing was a cash cow. It wasn’t about maintaining a clear road for residents, it was income generation pure and simple.

"It spoiled it for people going to the park to have a good day. The Danson Festival is a big thing with people coming from elsewhere so it doesn’t look good when they come back to their cars to find a parking ticket on the windscreen.

"As a resident it looks bad talking to people from outside the borough: it’s a case of they won’t be coming back here again."

Bexley Council say 94 penalty charge notices for violating temporary restrictions were issued this year during the festival – more than double last year’s total of 42.

A council spokeswoman put the rise down in part to an increase in the number of roads where restrictions applied – 18 this year compared to 11 in previous years.

There were eight wardens on duty on each of the two days issuing penalty charges for £110 reduced to £55 if paid within 14 days.

A council spokeswoman said: "Given the warm weather and therefore the high attendance, it is not surprising that the demand for parking this year was also high.

News Shopper:

A warden issues a ticket during the festival.

"The expanded parking restrictions ensured that local residents would not be unduly disturbed and traffic flow and road safety would not be compromised.

"In this context, it is not surprising that a number of penalties were issued. Signs were in place to advise motorists, but it is important that penalty charge notices are issued correctly.

"If a motorist feels that this has not happened in this instance, they should appeal and we will look at the exact circumstances they describe.

"On occasion, two officers may be in the same road or vicinity to ensure that parking controls are adequately enforced for road safety and traffic flow reasons.

"Where possible, civil enforcement officers gave warnings and/or advice to motorists before issuing a penalty. Examples of this have been seen on the footage recorded by body worn video cameras recorded during the event."

Stats

Year/PCNs for temporary restrictions/PCNs for other restrictions/Roads where temporary restrictions applied

2013 94 19 18
2012 42 14 11
2011 31 14 11
2010 17 1   11
2009 3   9   11

Roads where parking restrictions applied