PARKING wardens who targeted worshippers' cars as they attended
Sunday services got their come-uppance when a clergywoman
photographed their van parked on double yellow lines on a bend in
the road.
Their discomfiture was complete when the picture appeared on the
front page of their local paper, on the internet, and in the
national press, leading to a dressing-down from their bosses.
The Vicar, the Revd Beverley Mason, and her congregation at All
Saints', Bingley, in West Yorkshire, have been at odds with
Bradford Council's parking patrol for years over the two-hour time
limit outside their church.
Some parishioners believe that they are singled out by the
wardens. Ms Mason said: "We are easy pickings. They know they are
going to get people.
"I couldn't believe it when I saw them on the double yellow
lines. I took some photos on my phoneto show my friends. They
wereso embarrassed, they asked menot to show their number plate. I
told the Bishop, and he just said: 'Tweet'.
"We are not in the business of persecuting people, but the
parking is a really big problem. People get tickets every other
week. Two hours outside an active, growing church isn't very long.
People go across the road to Church House after service for
refreshments, and get stung because they spend too long
talk-ing.
"It's great fellowship which takes place after worship. It's a
really important time; so to have that curtailed is frustrating and
sad. Where else do you have two-hour parking limits in a
residential area on a Sunday? It does feel very harsh."
Miss Mason, who has received four tickets herself, is to meet
officials next week. "If they could extend the time to four hours,
or even lift the restrictions on a Sunday, that would be very
helpful."
A spokesman for Bradford Council said: "It is clearly
unacceptable for a council van to be parked on double yellow lines,
and all wardens have been instructed they must adhere to parking
restrictions at all times.
"We need to look into this matter to see what has happened on
this occasion, and consider what action needs to be taken."
