Businesses angry at parking fines handed out in Dudley town centre street

Around 420 parking tickets have been issued in Wolverhampton Street, Dudley, over 12 months – more than one a day. Mohammed Sagir, chairman of the Voice of Dudley Businesses, said motorists are confusing loading bays for parking ones and are getting penalised by traffic wardens. Loading bays were introduced in 2016 and extended in August, 2018, after the council consulted businesses – but traders want to see this reversed.

Mr Sagir said: “I have been based here for 19 years and so have other businesses. There is no need for this.”

He said businesses had called for extra parking and not loading bays but they were installed as such due to ‘miscommunication’ with the council.

Heather Wilkinson, who runs Bonham & Butler Opticians, said: “Around thirty 30 patients of mine have been ticketed in the past three or four months.

“This is affecting trade and we would like to see the loading bays turned into parking.”

The loading bays were previously parking bays the end of Wolverhampton Street.

A Dudley Council spokesman said parking bays were changed after businesses complained they could not unload outside of their shops, due to people blocking their access with parking.

The findings were revealed through a Freedom Of Information request submitted by the Express & Star and show that the number of parking tickets handed out have gone up each month, after the loading bays were extended in August.

From May to July, there were 116 parking tickets handed out. From August to April, there were 304 tickets handed out.

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for environmental, highways and street services, said: “We are always happy to listen to local businesses about their concerns.

“In this case, the request for parking bays will be considered as part of this year’s traffic regulation order programme, however, no decisions will be taken without consulting local people first.”