Council refutes claim that traffic wardens 'targeted' car park during University of Northampton's graduation day

Hundreds of students have been graduating at the university this week, with hundreds of parents filling up car parks in the area, including the Midsummer Meadows car park in Nunns Mill Road.

One resident in the area called the council out after allegedly seeing “more traffic wardens than usual” ticketing people at the car park.

The resident said: "Today was graduation day at UoN and surprisingly three traffic wardens were patrolling the Midsummer Meadows car park.

“They were all busily ticketing people who I assume were new to the town and visiting their graduating children.

“There is no sign as you enter the car park that it is a pay-and-display one, so my hope is that several of the students have graduated with law degrees and are able to fight the fines using their newly acquired skills.

“In all my years visiting Midsummer Meadows, I have never seen three traffic wardens circling this particular car park, so the question is, were they targeting new visitors to the town? If so, shame on whoever was responsible.

"One thing is for sure, anyone visiting the town for the first time will not be coming back in a hurry."

In response to claims, WNC said it “does not believe” officers “specifically targeted” the car park.

A WNC spokeswoman said: “Due to the level of non-compliance observed at this car park, additional resources (four wardens) were temporarily allocated. Once the area was fully patrolled, these officers returned to other high-traffic areas to continue their duties.

"WNC does not believe that officers specifically targeted Midsummer Meadow car park, with only five Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) being issued. However, the increased presence likely served as a deterrent, allowing officers to advise motorists about the car park conditions, which in turn reduces the number of PCNs issued.

“Two large tariff information boards are present at the car park next to the pay-and-display machines. It is the responsibility of motorists to check the conditions of the area where they park, as well as the signage at locations. Information about all town centre car parks, including payment options, can be found on the council’s website.”

WNC confirmed that NSL is the firm privately contracted to carry out parking enforcement duties in the area.

In August, news outlet MyLondon spoke to seven whistleblowers who all said wardens were pressured to dish out tickets under NSL in south London.

They told My London that NSL did not provide a written issue rate for tickets – as it is illegal to set quotas – but there was a “common understanding” among wardens they were expected to issue at least five tickets a day on foot.

They claimed wardens were investigated for “low performance” if they issued less tickets, regardless of a lack of offending vehicles. Read the full article here.