A recent visitor to Ross, Christopher Webb, has suggested that tickets issued by Parking Enforcement Officers to vehicles parked in the loading bay in the Market Place, are not legal as there are no road markings identifying the space as a loading bay.

He told the Ross Gazette: “My wife and I visited Ross-on-Wye on May 15th, what a beautiful town, whilst she was spending most of my money, I witnessed these two Civil Enforcement Officers ticketing vehicles parked up in what they believe was a loading bay.”

Mr Webb said that he is a professional driver and noticed there were no road markings identifying this space as a loading or disabled space. He always double checks and noticed the sign post identifying this space as a loading bay.

But he said that he believes that the tickets are not enforecable as the law states that the signage must be clear and visible and the road markings must be legible and unbroken. As you can see from the picure, (left) there are no road markings to identify this area as a loading bay. I informed these two CEOs that the tickets are unenforceable under the law.”

The Ross Gazette asked Herefordshire Council for clarification regarding the legal implications of not having road markings. A spokesperson for Herefordshire Council said: “The loading bays in Broad Street in Ross-on-Wye are for the loading of goods between Monday – Saturday 6am-6pm and parking is unrestricted outside of these times.

“Road markings deteriorate over time and we have a programme of regular road marking inspection and maintenance in place. If lines marking loading bays require repainting they will be redone in accordance with the Traffic Regulation Order that governs that specific loading bay.”