Drivers warned to steer clear of parking bay being 'staked out' by CCTV cars

Campaigners are warning drivers not to park in a bay they claim is being staked out by CCTV "spy" cars.

A motorists' rights group claims poor signs and no road markings make the bay, outside Tesco Express in Southampton Way, Camberwell,
a "golden goose" for Southwark council, which has generated about £190,000 in fines from it in a year.

One sign states 30-minute parking is allowed from 7am to 10am and from 1pm to 7pm, but a sign below it states the bay is for "goods vehicles loading only" from 10am to 1pm.

Bruce Argue, a member of the NoToMob campaign group, said the council "should put some decent signs up and make them visible, so there would be no need for a little black car parked 50 yards up the street with a periscope."

The council denies its mobile CCTV cars lie in wait for drivers. Cabinet member for transport Barrie Hargrove said: "We don't want drivers to get fined unnecessarily and we urge them to read the signs carefully."