THURROCK Council has announced it is to get tough on bad parkers and seize their vehicles.

The news will be welcomed by many Thurrock residents who have looked to the council to enforce many flagrant breaches of parking regulations – but who have felt let down by the authority when it came to taking real action.

One of the many cases of residents being frustrated was highlighted on Thurrock Nub news earlier this year, when we featured concerns of residents in Dukes Road, Grays

Many similar stories have been told across the borough and in the wake of our story, portfolio holder for transport, Cllr Ben Maney, said action would follow.

Just over six months on, today (Friday, 10 September), the council announced a new 'get tough' policy.

A statement said: "Thurrock Council's parking team will soon seize and remove the vehicles of persistent parking offenders and those whose inconsiderate parking creates a hazard, blocks disabled parking bays or causes traffic issues, following a decision made by the council's Conservative cabinet on Wednesday, 8 September.

Cllr Maney has added to his earlier commitment by saying: "Our officers issue fines to motorists that break parking rules but in some cases we need to take stronger action.

"Some vehicles are either not properly registered or have foreign number plates which means that fines do not ever reach their owners, often these motorists take advantage of that fact to park wherever they like irrespective of how it affects other road users and pedestrians. Often unregistered vehicles belonging to persistent evaders are also untaxed, uninsured, do not have an MOT and are linked to other criminal activity.

"We will seize the vehicles of persistent parking offenders and fine evaders and hold their vehicles until their fines have been paid in full, if they fail to pay we could possibly sell the vehicle to recover the debt. There will be no place for them to hide anymore when we implement this policy borough wide.

"This policy will also enable us to quickly and effectively remove any vehicle parked inconsiderately which causes danger, disruption or great inconvenience to others.

"Selfish parking can cause problems for neighbours and other road users. By introducing this policy we can take this issue in hand and punish those who think they can get away with it or create unnecessary danger on our roads."