PARKING has become a perennial problem in Kendal as it has in towns and cities over Britain.

It is perhaps not surprising when you consider that in 1956, fewer than one in four households owned a car.

By 1994, more than two out of three households had at least one car and one in four owned more than one.

The problems have been compounded by funding crises forcing police forces all over the country to cut back on wardens to patrol the streets looking for parking pests.

The 1991 Road Traffic Act allowed local authority's to apply to the Home Secretary for the right to police on-street parking for themselves for the first time.

Since then, relatively few have taken up the option until now.

South Lakeland District Council has set its sight on starting Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) by spring next year.

Both Barrow and Carlisle plan to begin their own schemes in October this year, and Lancaster City Council has, as yet, no plans for DPE at all.

In fact the nearest local authority to have tried to set up DPE is the metropolitan borough of Trafford, on the southern outskirts of Manchester.

The council there started DPE in November 2000 under the guidance of James Howard, parking service manager.

Mr Howard told the Gazette that the scheme set up there had been a success from the council's point of view.

"I suppose it depends who you think it is successful for," he said, " Motorists who have got tickets do not think it's successful."

"Of course," he said: "It is up to the individual council how rigorously they want to enforce it." But added that DPE enforcement has been far more rigorous than police traffic wardens ever were in every area where it has been tried.

But the results had been good in Trafford according to Mr Howard.

He said DPE had kept roads clearer and forced people to use the car parks available.

"It makes a difference," he said, "If you drive through traffic now, the roads are a bit easier, it's a bit clearer."

He said businesses which had grown used to loading and unloading whenever they pleased before DPE was introduced had not welcomed the scheme, but had nevertheless adapted to it.

"They were never going to be happy about it," he said, "but they adapted, slowly."

Mr Howard also stressed that DPE was not a money-spinning council venture: "It is certainly not a cash cow.

It is very, very difficult in the first year of operation even to break even."

He said some DPE schemes did generate a small surplus after some time, but said the money was ring-fenced by law and could only be spent on certain transport related projects."

Morris Brundrett, who is overseeing SLDC's introduction of DPE, also stressed that profit was not the council's motive for taking on the responsibility.

He said: "We must not lose sight of the fact that we are doing this to improve the environment for people."

Easing congestion, he said, would reduce pollution caused by standing and slow moving traffic and improve traffic flows and make things better for everyone in the long run.