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7 months ago
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These are the learner moped drivers being used by a Labour council to fine motorists who have actually passed their tests.
Civil enforcement officers, without a full licence, have been pictured on motorcycles in south-west London catching out drivers and issuing fines.
Lambeth Council has been criticised for using a 'loophole' to get more wardens onto the streets quickly to collect £35million a year in parking penalties, by bringing in learner mopeds.
The local authority has also introduced extra wardens on bicycles as well as a car fitted with cameras to catch out more motorists.
Wardens who are 18 and over are being hired with CBT certificates - meaning compulsory basic training - through a private contract with the parking firm Apcoa, according to The Telegraph.
A civil enforcement on a moped with learner plates handing out in Lambeth
It has been reported that some new parking wardens have not passed their test
Lambeth Council has been criticised for using a 'loophole' to get more wardens onto the streets quickly to collect £35million a year in parking penalties, by bringing in learner mopeds
Wardens who are 18 and over are being hired with CBT certificates - meaning compulsory basic training - through a private contract with the parking firm Apcoa
The course, which is a day long, does not require a full practical theory test and teaches a low level of moped driving skills.
Pensioner Richard Hughes, who has been driving for 40 years, said it was 'a bit odd' to be issued a ticket by a learner driver after he parked in Abbeville Village, Clapham, to collect food for his granddaughter.
'It seems that there are loopholes and weaknesses in the system that means that it's advantageous to them to be learners rather than to have passed their test,' he said.
One warden on a learner moped issued a penalty on an unoccupied car around two minutes after it arrived, The Telegraph observed.
The moped was also reportedly parked in a suspended bay with its L plate semi upturned.
Lambeth Council is understood to be one of several councils using learner mopeds to give out parking fines.
An Apcoa spokesman said: 'Alongside foot patrols, scooters offer a low emission and versatile means for CEO's to carry out their duties within a large borough – 80 per cent of the Apcoa mopeds operating in Lambeth are electric.
'These vehicles are driven in accordance with licence & DVLA regulations and all the Apcoa fleet is insured under a commercial agreement.'
The course, which is a day long, does not require a full practical theory test and teaches a low level of moped driving skills
A penalty charge pictured on a vehicle in Lambeth today
Some civil enforcement officers were seen on foot taking pictures of cars
Other parking wardens used bicycles as they reportedly handed out fines in Lambeth
The council has also deployed a car fitted with cameras, with two wardens seen in the vehicle
A car fitted with cameras turning a corner in Lambeth today
A Lambeth council spokesman said: 'Our parking services help to keep the streets of our busy inner London borough safe and convenient. We use foot patrols and electric scooters to efficiently achieve that, all in line with relevant legislation.
'Penalty Charge Notices are only issued to people breaking the rules, and there are no targets attached to this work.'
A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'Penalty charges related to parking in London are set by the Mayor of London, so this is a matter for Lambeth Council and TfL (Transport for London), however we expect all enforcement officers operating using a motor vehicle to comply with the law.'
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