Durham County Council is raising awareness of parking issues with drivers in South Durham ahead of taking responsibility for enforcement in June.
From May 31st, the Council will take over parking enforcement across the former district areas of Teesdale, Wear Valley and Sedgefield to bring South Durham into line with the rest of the county.
To ensure that drivers who park in these areas are ready for the changeover, the Council will begin by issuing warnings to those found to be parking illegally instead of penalties.
Starting on May 6th, advice letters will be issued to any drivers found to be contravening restrictions to increase their awareness of the rules. Although the council will officially take over enforcement on May 31st, for the following 10 days the letters of advice will be replaced by warning notices for first offences.
Following this period of grace, the council will start issuing live penalty charge notices on June 10th.
Adrian White, head of transport and contract services, said: “We hope that the advice and warnings will inform drivers who are unaware of parking restrictions in South Durham and help them avoid being issued with a penalty once we take responsibility for enforcement.”
Information on parking and enforcement across County Durham can be found at www.durham.gov.uk/parking
