PARKING in Dumbarton could be policed by council officers who want to enforce their own policies on the town’s drivers.

A feasibility study to determine the possibility of decriminalising parking across West Dunbartonshire will be carried out by the local authority.

Decriminalised parking enforcement is a regulatory regime which allows the council to enforce its own parking policies by using parking attendants either directly employed by the council or outsourced to a third party on their behalf.

The local authority wants to manage the provision of car parking to improve access to town centre businesses and facilities, support the economy and reduce frustration for visitors.

The issue was discussed at the infrastructure, regeneration and economic development committee.

A council officer said: “The town centre is experiencing peak demand due to all the construction works that are ongoing [at castle Street].

“It would be anticipated there would be a study post completion of those works so that officers are actually able to see what the availability provision is when the town centre is operating at usual demand.

“The report requests permission to develop a business case to look at the feasibility of applying for decriminalised parking enforcement powers and it also notes the progress of the Transport Bill.”

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Councillor John Mooney asked if other areas of West Dunbartonshire including Clydebank would be considered in the study.

It was confirmed that the study would look at decriminalisation across the full local authority area.

Councillor Diane Docherty said: “As someone that is a support worker and has worked for a long time with wheelchair users, I find it quite staggering the ignorance of people that park on pavements.”