PARKING wardens wearing head-cams filming their every move has led to a fall in the number of complaints over tickets, it has been revealed.

Cameras and microphones are attached to the uniform of every civil enforcement officer working in Bolton who is employed by NSL, a partner company of Bolton Council.

The wardens cover the streets of the borough looking for cars illegally parked in disabled parking bays, on yellow lines, within bus lanes or taxi ranks.

Cllr Nick Peel, the member in charge of environmental services at the council, told his colleagues that since the introduction of recording equipment there had been a dramatic fall in the number of complaints about tickets from motorists.

“Nobody likes getting parking tickets, and no council is going to be popular for parking enforcement. It’s a fact of life”, he said.

“We used to get quite a lot of complaints from tickets given out when people had parked on white lines.

“But with the introduction of photographic evidence the complaints disappeared overnight.

“With the use of head-cams and real-time photography, complaints nearly all but disappeared because people realised that parking enforcement are able to keep up with them quickly.”

The Bolton News reported in September how drivers in Knowsley Street in the town centre were hit with more than 1,400 parking tickets last year, leading to criticism from traders and councillors that “over-zealous” parking wardens were stopping shoppers visiting the town centre.

But Stephen Young, the council’s assistant director of highways, said the number of penalty charge notices had fallen almost 12 per cent in 2013/14 compared with the previous year.

The number of parking adjudications — challenges against the tickets — had also fallen by 16.6 per cent over the same 12 months.

He said: “If we get a complaint from a member of the public we review the footage from the officer’s headcam, so we can see the conversation. This is extremely helpful when looking at their engagement with the public and dealing with complaints.”

The council operates 26 pay and display on-street parking sites in Bolton, plus 31 free car parks.