Police are cracking down on cars parked on zebra crossings in Beaconsfield Old Town.

PC William Ranford, of the Beaconsfield neighbourhood policing team, said that Thames Valley Police are continuing to tow away vehicles that cause an obstruction or fining drivers.

Speaking at a community safety meeting at Beaconsfield town council on Thursday, he warned that drivers will face a huge bill if they park dangerously.

He said: “Parking is not something we can enforce unless it is causing an obstruction, but we are recovering vehicles that are causing an obstruction.

“The last recovery was two days ago, when a vehicle parked on the zebra crossing on London End was recovered. That’s a £250 recovery fee and three points on your licence. We are doing what we can, when we can.”

In August, the BFP reported that several cars parked on the zebra crossing outside Knights in London End were being towed away by police.

Despite this, PC Ranford said people are repeatedly parking there because there is ‘nowhere else to park’ in the town.

He said: “Those vehicles are being recovered and if they are not being recovered then we are sticking tickets on them for obstruction.

“If a vehicle is obstructing a mother with a pram and she has to walk on the road surface to get to the crossing, then that is dangerous.

“If it is not obstructing her but making the pavement less convenient, then we will put a fixed penalty notice on the vehicle.”

Cllr Alastair Pike said parking outside the One Stop in the Old Town, as well as near the zebra crossing by the White Hart pub is a problem.

He said: “Parking on pavements seems to be quite prolific outside the One Stop and people parking near the zebra crossing further up. It can be quite dangerous.”

PC Ranford said police only have the power to enforce punishments for drivers parking on crossings, on white zig zag lines or anywhere that it causes ‘danger to other road users’ and said more parking enforcement officers are needed to tackle the problems they cannot deal with.

He said: “We get lots of complaints about parking that we cannot enforce. The obstruction has to be something that makes the pavement less convenient for other road users. Although it doesn’t have to be total obstruction, it does have to be significant.”