Stone Town Council Considers ANPR Cameras for High Street No-Entry Enforcement

The installation of cameras is being considered for a high street’s upper section to identify drivers who disregard a no-entry regulation. Stone Town Council is evaluating a proposal for a £30,000 allocation from its upcoming year’s budget, intended for the acquisition of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. High Street in Stone is designated as restricted to vehicles; however, traders are permitted access for loading and unloading activities, provided these occur outside the hours of 10:00 and 16:30. Nevertheless, drivers reportedly violate this prohibition, and bollards positioned at the street’s entrance during daylight hours have sustained damage from vehicles, as reported to town councillors during a recent meeting. In previous years, the council has collaborated with Staffordshire County Council, Stafford Borough Council, and Staffordshire Police in efforts to uphold the High Street’s vehicle restriction. Rob Kenney, who chairs the town council’s General Purposes Committee, stated that the council would be in a position “to other authorities to ask them to contribute to the ANPR”. The councillor, responsible for proposing the budget item, remarked: “If you go down the High Street at night it is like a car park. “In the market square, outside the library, there are cars parked, and further down going towards the takeaways.”It’s an accident waiting to happen.” Councillor Ian Fordham also noted that the safety of residents, particularly children, has been a concern for several years due to driver behavior. He further commented: “It needs sorting out before there is a serious injury or fatality.” Councillor Jill Hood, who brought up this matter at the most recent full Staffordshire County Council meeting, declared that “we, the town council, are continually paying out for brand new bollards”. She recounted an incident where one driver “hit a bollard so hard that the car was embedded” on it. She stated: “We are looking at automated number plate recognition. The town council is quite willing to put in a considerable amount of money.” However, she added: “But I’m told by the highways department that this is not possible, because if we pursue it and we get it, it is going to cost the county council for every town and village to put in ANPR.” She also expressed her hope that the county council’s cabinet member for strategic highways would “look at this,” noting that she had “already spoken to highways” herself. This report was compiled by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which provides coverage of councils and other public service bodies. For updates, follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.