Rother slammedover parking row

Rother has said that it has no plans to take responsibility for decriminalising parking despite being one of the only authorities in the country yet to do so.

Rye area police chief Warren Franklin has said that enforcing parking in Rye takes up valuable police time and cannot be a priority when the force is facing cuts.

He said: “Decriminalising parking would save considerable time and effort in terms of police resources we have not got.

“It is not a priority when compared to other threats such as burglaries, violent crime, theft and anti-social behaviour.”

But Rother Council leader Carl Maynard said: “There are no plans to introduce it.

“Next year our party will consult with locals as to what they want but we will not be advocating it.”

Rye does not have a traffic warden and parking enforcement is a major issue.

Speaking at Monday’s Town Council meeting, Cllr Mike Eve said: “I am angry and disappointed that Rother District Council will not take responsibility for parking enforcement.

“It shows that they don’t care about local issues. We could end up with anarchy.”

He added: “It is a dereliction of duty by Rother who have failed to realise this is a serious issue that something needs to be done about.”

Rye Mayor Cllr Bernardine Fiddimore said: “We are now looking at the bigger picture when it comes to parking problems in Rye.”