A LOCAL county councillor has spoken out against ‘vile’ abuse towards traffic wardens after a county council committee heard that incidents are on the rise.

Cllr Debo Sellis, who represents Tavistock and Gulworthy, said she agreed that Devon traffic wardens were facing ‘unacceptable’ abuse, adding that she had witnessed it first-hand.

Traffic wardens are so unhappy they are leaving the job in droves, with 20 vacancies across Devon, a county council scrutiny committee meeting heard. There have been 77 reported incidents in the past three years, with the vast majority relating to verbal abuse. Eleven have been more serious, requiring ‘escalation to the police,’ the report stated, adding that ‘the majority of these have occurred in the past 12 months’.

Speaking this week, Cllr Sellis said: ‘A few years ago I actually went out with a local traffic warden and it was quite shocking how vile people were, so I’m not surprised and very saddened by it. In fact, it makes me angry.

‘What do the public want?’ she added. ‘They complain that they can’t get parking and then when we bring in enforcement they object. They can’t have it both ways.’

Highways chief councillor Stuart Hughes told the Corporate Infrastucture and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee the problem had got worse. ‘We continue to work to ensure our staff remain safe and supported at a time when frontline staff are exposed to more verbal abuse and aggression from the public than before,’ he said.

‘This is not acceptable. Our team is fully supported by managers and technology, including body worn video [BMV], and we are clear that abuse of staff is unacceptable, and we will escalate to the police if needs be.’

The report added: ‘All [civil enforcement officers] are actively encouraged to use the BWV when they feel something may escalate or they feel the need to record a conversation.

‘They will always let the individual member of public know that they are recording and this often de-escalates the situation.

‘Current BWVs have a front-facing screen so the individual can see themselves on the camera allowing for immediate reflection on their behaviour.’ The meeting also heard the council was struggling to recruit traffic wardens. There are almost 20 full-time equivalent parking enforcement vacancies, a shortfall of over 40 per cent. ‘However … the team are motivated and continue to deliver a good service with the available resources. Overtime allows existing staff to provide additional hours reducing the shortfall,’ the report went on to say.