Anglesey, Wrexham and Flintshire have not employed wardens

Wrexham, Anglesey and Flintshire councils have not yet taken on wardens since responsibility for the service was passed on to them from the police.

Anglesey and Flintshire councils said they were consulting about their parking plans, while the Wrexham said it was seeking funding for patrols.

North Wales Police said drivers would still be booked for dangerous parking.

The idea behind switching responsibility for traffic wardens from police forces to councils came because police authorities cannot use the revenue from fines to pay for their parking patrols, whereas councils can.

The change was also viewed as a way of freeing up police officers for frontline crime duties.

But the civic-funded patrols have yet to reach full strength.

'Specific complaints'

Denbighshire council appears to be the best equipped. It has 12 wardens patrolling, and in the second half of 2004, they issued more than 6,000 tickets.

But Conwy and Gwynedd councils said they each have one warden although plan to take on "parking monitors".

Wrexham council's strategic director, Paul Roberts, said: "We will want to pursue decriminalised parking enforcement as soon as funding can be put in place."

A spokeswoman added that, in the mean time, police traffic wardens would not be patrolling, although officers would respond to specific complaints about cars being parked irresponsibly or that were causing problems.

A spokesman for Flintshire council said council members were waiting for a report and recommendations from traffic consultants before making any decisions.

Police powers

An Anglesey council spokesman said: "As an authority, we're currently looking at providing street enforcement ourselves."

He added the authority was considering employing its own parking attendants and was awaiting the results of a feasibility study.

North Wales Police said police officers still retained the power to book drivers who parked irresponsibly.

The force still has two wardens on patrol, one covering Anglesey and Gwynedd and one for Conwy and Denbighshire.