The Council is responsible for a huge range of services that literally cover all our lives from birth to death.

These days, although the local authority spends most of its budget on delivering personal social care to the most vulnerable, we still provide services that are more visible.

One all too common nuisance is the problem caused by the small minority who park their cars and vans over other people’s dropped kerbs and driveways.

While this may seem like quite a small issue in the grand scheme of things, it does actually affect too many people. Understandably, many of you write to us as ward councillors to complain when this happens.

For example, there are those who have mobility issues, or who have small children, for whom the ability to use a dropped kerb and park nearer their door is essential.

Parking on the entrances to driveways denies other residents who have gone to the expense and trouble of creating a safe, legal place to park their car the chance to do so.

Above all, such disregard for the needs of other people just generates an atmosphere of selfishness and unneighbourly behaviour.

The police are only obliged to act if there is a serious road obstruction, which is why officers rarely intervene.

As councillors, we have been looking for a way the local authority can do more. That is why at Cabinet this month, my colleagues and I resolved to take action.

In September, after the holiday season, we will begin an information campaign because we are giving our parking enforcement officers – our traffic wardens – the ability to issue penalty notices where vehicles obstruct blocked kerbs. They will be also able to issue tickets to those who double park.

Details of the notice and the scope of the powers will appear on the Council’s website and on social media from Monday.

Lastly, as I write this we are still experiencing the kind of temperatures normally associated with the Mediterranean.

We all need to take care to make sure the sun does not affect us, but if you own a dog, please don’t leave it alone in your car. If it is 22 degrees outside (and it has been around 27 here), inside the car it could be 47.

If you see a dog showing signs of heatstroke, call the police.

You can find more advice from the RSPCA, which also covers what to do if immediate action is vital to save the pet’s life - https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/dogs/health/dogsinhotcars

Above all, remember to keep hydrated, so that you can continue to enjoy the great weather and, hopefully, more football success in Russia that I can write about over the weeks to come.