Haringey Council faces further embarrassment after it emerged that many of the borough’s parking bays do not conform to Department for Transport (DfT) regulations. Investigation by Cllr Martin Newton has revealed that Muswell Hill’s pay-and-display bays fail to have the correct road markings. Local Liberal Democrats are calling for a comprehensive review of all parking lines and signs in the entire borough.

This recent discovery follows a number of errors uncovered by Liberal Democrats that will put further pressure on embattled Labour parking boss, Cllr Haley. In February Haringey Council was forced by Liberal Democrats to replace confusing and contradictory parking signage – and also had to add further stickers to pay-and-display machines to try to explain bewildering restrictions.

Recent investigations by Liberal Democrats also uncovered that at five of the seven yellow box junctions enforced by CCTV, penalty notices had to be cancelled due to incorrect lines, signs or Traffic Management Orders.

Cllr Martin Newton, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Transport and Highways, comments:

“We need an end to confusion surrounding where and when residents and visitors can park. Only with a full comprehensive audit will enforcement be fair. Labour-run Haringey Council needs to make sure all lines and signs are crystal clear and that they conform to regulations. Penalty notices should not be issued where they know they have got it wrong.

“It beggars belief that this administration seems incapable of getting the simplest scheme right. Just how difficult is it to look at the illustrations in the guidelines from the DfT and replicate them in Haringey? If they can’t even paint a simple parking bay correctly what message does it send to residents that they are competent to run anything?

“It is time for Haringey’s Parking Boss, Cllr Haley to accede to our demands and order a thorough review of lines and signs and make sure they follow DfT guidelines.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Given the number of parking scandals involving Haringey Council, you could start to think it’s a conspiracy rather than incompetence. The Labour council leaders need to act soon to resolve faith in our borough’s parking rules.”