Panic alarms for parking attendants

Parking wardens have been given panic alarms because of fears of attacks by the public.

Wardens in Southwark can send a message to their headquarters saying how serious an incident is, varying from a "code yellow" to a more serious "code red".

There were nine attacks on parking attendants in the borough last year.

Global positioning system technology can also locate the attendant, known as a civil enforcement officer, for help to be sent.

The aim of the alarms is to make wardens safer, but will also enable the council to re-deploy attendants from one area to another if parked cars need to be moved.

The alarms will also remove doubts about where wardens issue penalty charge notices and avoid legal fights over authenticity of fines.

The system has been in place since November and all 50 Southwark wardens' movements are trackable.

A warden working for parking contractor APCOA in Southwark said: "No matter how well trained we are, colleagues sometimes cannot get all the right information across the radio whilst trying to handle an abusive member of the public."