Kirkby Lonsdale high street sign farce (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Kirkby Lonsdale high street sign farce

11:20am Friday 3rd July 2009 in

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PARKING restrictions on a town’s busiest street have been made unenforceable thanks to a blunder by council officials.

Two signs in Main Street, Kirkby Lonsdale, give conflicting advice about when motorists can park their cars.

Traffic wardens have been told they cannot ticket or move on any cars parked on the road.

And traders are angry at the council red tape that has caused delays in removing the incorrect sign.

South Lakeland District Council said it was responsible for highways, but that the ‘errection, removal and changing’ of signs was the responsibility of Cumbria County Council which has not responded to requests to sort the matter out.

County coucil bosses have ‘launched an investigation’ but not yet removed the sign.

One sign says there is no parking from Monday to Saturday between 9am and 6pm.

The other announces restrictions seven days a week between 8am to 6pm — this is the correct sign.

Allan Muirhead, who works part time in Main Street shop Lawrence Barrie, said: “It’s a simple enough job to come out with a new sign and a screwdriver and change one of them yet nothing has been done.

“It’s bureaucracy, it’s red tape and it’s the problem you get with local government when one authority is responsible for half a service, and another one for the other half. This is what ratepayers have to put up with.

“Because they contradict each other parking restrictions can’t be enforced because motorists would have grounds to appeal.

“So we’re left with vans parked all day, taking spaces that could be used by shoppers.

A spokeswoman for South Lakeland District Council said staff had contacted highways officials at Cumbria County Council several times to no avail.

“While we are responsible for enforcing parking, the county council is responsible for erecting, removing and changing signs,” she said. “The signs are wrong but CCC needs to correct them before we can enforce the parking restrictions.

“Until the signs are erected we can’t enforce anything. It has been raised a few times (with the county council) and it needs sorting. At the moment, we’re stuck.”

In a statement, Cumbria County Council said it was investigating ‘how this anomaly has arisen’, adding: “If we find a problem the sign will be corrected as soon as possible”.