PARKING wardens have been given new powers to catch drivers who try to drive off before they are able to give them a ticket.New rules being handed to Ipswich Borough Council by the government will also see drivers who threaten parking officers fined and the penalties for the worst parking offences rise by £10 to £70.

Grant Sherlock

PARKING wardens have been given new powers to catch drivers who try to drive off before they are able to give them a ticket.

New rules being handed to Ipswich Borough Council by the government will also see drivers who threaten parking officers fined and the penalties for the worst parking offences rise by £10 to £70.

Lesser offences like staying in a public car park too long are set to drop from £60 to £50 under the changes.

The borough council today said that the government is asking it, along with hundreds of other councils, to bring in a new “civil enforcement” system from March 31.

The council has carried out yellow line parking enforcement for the Highways Authority since powers were taken over from the police in 2005.

The council has always been responsible for enforcing offences in its own public car parks

A spokesman for the borough said today: “The huge majority of motorists who do not park illegally will not notice the changes but those who do will face a new two-tier penalty system.

“This reflects the fact that some offences, such as parking on double yellow lines or on zig-zag lines next to a pedestrian crossing, are more serious - and potentially dangerous - than others, such as parking for too long in a public car park.

“The penalty for the more serious offences on the street are £70 or £35 if paid within 14 days. The other offences carry a penalty of £50, or £25 if paid within 14 days.”

The changes will also allow the council's parking enforcement officers to issue penalty charge notices to motorists who either speed off before a fine can be fixed to their vehicle to vehicle.