Village row over fines for church workers, Teesdale Mercury

ANGRY villagers are accusing the police of lacking community spirit after officers handed out parking fines to people carrying out church work.

People in Evenwood say police officers have failed to deal with issues in the village but found the time to put fines on vehicles that “weren’t even causing an obstruction”.

Two electricians working on Evenwood Church Hall were hit with £30 parking fines recently.

The parish council and church leaders say the fines were unnecessary and are making angry protests to Durham Police.

Parish chairwoman Barbara Nicholson said although one vehicle was parked on the kerb, there was enough space for two prams to pass by. The other vehicle was said to be “marginally” parking into a bus stopping area.

Cllr Nicholson said: “These two vehicles had £30 fines stuck on them – one of the vehicles was only just nudging over the bus stop. 

“I just feel that with all that with all the problems in this village, the police chose to pick on someone like this. The church hall is a community building and is used by the police – why didn’t they pop inside and speak to them?”

A meeting of the parish council heard that the police have been given the names of the people committing offences in the village many times in recent weeks.

“The police have not done a single thing – and yet they can put tickets on vans doing community work,” said Cllr Nicholson.

Cllr Anne Lyons said: “The police say they want to work with the community but they’re not.”

Sgt Jayne Burdess, from Bishop Auckland Police, said the fixed penalty tickets were correctly issued by two Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).

She said they had been parked in the same location the previous day but as the officers had not received a complaint they opted to use their discretion and not take action immediately.

“However, when they were next on foot patrol the following day, they noticed the vehicles had not moved and therefore had little option other than to issue tickets. 

“One of the vehicles was parked with all four wheels on the footpath, which cannot be anything other than obstruction.”

Sgt Burdess said when the tickets were issued, there were no lights on in the church hall and no sign showing why the vehicles were in that location.

“Officers are criticised if they do not take action in relation to parking issues and it is disappointing we are now being criticised for doing so.

“We are surprised by the claims that police are not doing enough to tackle local issues. The Neighbourhood Policing Team, partners and the parish council have worked proactively to reduce crime and disorder within the village and as a result there have been considerable decreases in both over the past two years.”

She said anti-social behaviour has dropped significantly in the village, with present problems being dog fouling and speeding.

“During the past month there have been just two youth-related anti-social behaviour calls, one of which related to a licensed premises,” Sgt Burdess said.