SOUTH Ayrshire Council may look to extend a trial of evening parking patrols after producing a report on their use this year.

Parking tickets were mainly issued for waiting restriction breaches and for not showing a ticket in designated areas around Ayr.

The trials ran between August and September this year with the aim to identify problem areas in South Ayrshire. Patrols were provided in Ayr, Prestwick and Troon to work until 8pm in the evening.

The council has said the trials were successful and provided an opportunity to give specific advice and allowed the enforcement presence to be more visible in key areas. As a result, they are proposing to have evening patrols between March and October every year.

Head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance Stewart Turner reported that in the trial period three Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued at Burns Statue Square for waiting restrictions and two issued for parking in disabled bays. There were also instances of parking without showing a ticket as a result of stricter parking times.

A worker from Cecchini’s on Fort Street, next to one of the parking hotspots, said the continued patrols shouldn’t have a significant impact on businesses open later in Ayr such as restaurants. He said: “If they’re on until 8pm then that might have an effect on customers, but I would say only a minority would be put off. I think the majority would just be wanting to come out.

“More people would be watching their money coming out in general to be honest so it hopefully wouldn’t make too big a difference.”

The financial implications of evening parking patrols were noted as no issue of concern as Ayrshire Roads Alliance anticipate the additional cost to be offset by income generated from parking tickets and potential parking penalties issued.