COUNCILLORS have said they are going to continue pressuring police chiefs to give powers to PCSOs allowing them to issue parking fines.

Last year, leader of Swindon council David Renard wrote to the Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson to see if giving parking enforcement powers was a possibility, following a cross-party motion.

However, in his response Mr Macpherson said the Chief Constable was reluctant to do so because it might change their status within local communities.

Bad parking is a major problem faced by many residents across Swindon, especially around schools.

And there is an acknowledgement that there is no easy solution, with the council lacking the resources to fully enforce the problem.

So it was hoped that the police would help. But in his response, Mr Macpherson said: “We understand that the request has been made following recognition by the borough council that there are not enough traffic enforcement officers to make a meaningful impact in enforcing existing parking regulations.

“This has led at times to it being unsafe for pedestrians in the vicinity of some schools in the borough and has caused problems for residents living near to those schools.

“The Chief Constable is reluctant to give additional powers to PSCOs as this would change their status within the community and potentially prejudice their community engagement role.

“We did, however, note that the neighbourhood policing teams should respond to priorities which are identified in the neighbourhood.

“Following this process it would seem logical for highway and traffic problems outside schools to be targeted through the normal neighbourhood tasking process.”

Despite this, council leader David Renard (Con, Haydon Wick) remains keen for there to be a change in policy and members will continue to press their case.

He said: “We will continue to talk to the Police and Crime Commissioner but the PSCOs are people in his organisation.

“In the spirit of One Swindon we hope he agrees but ultimately it is not our decision. We are looking at a number of solutions across a number of areas but if there are people employed by a public statutory body then we would want them to do something rather than just say they can’t do anything.

“We have all had experience of a small minority of parents who disobey the rules around pick-up and collection times and they are the people the council and police need to tackle.”