SCHOOL run parents may be celebrating – but City of York Council is fuming. The Department of Transport is considering banning local authorities from using CCTV to enforce parking restrictions.

If it does, the city council would have to get rid of the ‘camera car’ it bought only last month.

As we have reported previously, the car would have been used to ‘spy’ on school run parents parking illegally near schools, as well as on other illegally parked motorists.

The Local Government Association, which represents local authorities, says banning the parking cameras could put schoolchildren at risk by preventing councils tackling dangerous parking.

In York, the city council’s cabinet member for environmental services Coun David Levene today said Whitehall should stop interfering and leave local communities to decide for themselves. Residents and parents had been complaining for years been about irresponsible parking, he added.

We accept that the problem of school run parking is real. It could also potentially be dangerous for children, if they have to dodge between parked cars. But we also feel slightly uneasy at the whole idea of spy cameras in cars. There is something distinctly Big Brotherish about it.

Surely there must be a better way to tackle the problem? We’d like to see schools educating parents – perhaps by getting children involved in campaigns. And why can’t more schools organise ‘walking buses’ so youngsters could walk to school together in safety?