Stevenage Borough Council and North Herts District Council have announced a partial relaxation of parking operations over the coming weeks.

Both the borough and district council have confirmed they will be reducing parking enforcement over the quarantine period in order to remove the burden on police.

This will involve a looser policing of resident permits and single yellow line parking – however motorists will be penalised as normal for illegal parking on double yellows, loading bays, and disabled bays.

Cllr Lloyd Briscoe, SBC’s executive member for economy, enterprise and transport said: “We would encourage everyone to show patience and consideration when parking their vehicle. We know residential areas have more parked vehicles due to government advice encouraging people to stay at home. The emergency services need to get to properties, and deliveries need to be made without difficulty.”

North Herts District Council also confirmed it would “not prioritise enforcement of resident permit/voucher schemes and single yellows in residential areas” for the next three weeks.

In a statement yesterday, they said: “During this challenging situation our priority for parking enforcement will be on issues of safety, maintaining access for emergency and refuse vehicles, and access for our most vulnerable residents.”

Meanwhile, SBC leader Sharon Taylor announced this week that the borough council have instructed wardens not to ticket cars parked outside Lister Hospital on Coreys Mill Lane, for at least the next three months.

This followed a viral clip on social media of an angry resident confronting a traffic warden who was ticketing cars outside the hospital.

Kieran Tompsett had been a visitor at Lister on Monday to see the birth of his daughter, when he approached the warden, who explained he was acting on council orders.

Cllr Taylor said on social media: “We want to do all we can to help our NHS heroes at this difficult time for them so we will be removing the parking charges on Coreys Mill Lane.

“If you are not an NHS key worker please think hard about whether you need the space more than they do. You may need them to save your life or one of your family.”

The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust has said it will be issuing a statement to staff in the coming days about car park charges for Lister staff.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is today urging all Trusts to immediately make use of new government pledges to cover parking charges for NHS staff in this unprecedented time.

A limited number of free spaces for NHS staff have also been offered by Active Fitness Club Stevenage, The Marquis Of Granby pub, and Stevenage Garden Centre.