ON-STREET parking has caused a stir in Lyme Regis again after town councillors argued that local enforcement officers should be involved in joint council parking initiatives.

It comes after Dorset County Council gets set to review on-street parking schemes across Dorset in July.

Now, a new set of criteria will be used to consider whether on-street parking is right for an area.

Enforcement officers for Lyme Regis Town Council monitor the car parks and other open spaces in the town to ensure that parking regulations and other byelaws are adhered to.

A planning and highways town council meeting on June 4 updated councillors on the on-street parking pro-gress between Dorset County Council and West Dorset District Council.

Cllr Owen Lovell, right, proposed a recommendation to highlight to the county council that town councillors are keen to involve Lyme’s own enforcement officers in any DCC or WDDC parking initiatives.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation.

Councillors discussed a report from operations manager Elliott Herbert and heard that on-street parking enforcement will be considered at DCC’s cabinet meeting in July.

The report added: “So far, the business model provides a business case to suggest an east and west split of the county for on and off-street parking enforcement.

“If the proposal is agreed, an anticipated period of around two months will be devoted to agreeing the operational details.

“This will include which town councils are likely to be affected by any decisions.”

Cllr Owen Lovell questioned if managing parking will extend to the parking enforcement officers in Lyme Regis.

Cllr Chris Clipson, left, added: “In a previous meeting we made it clear we wanted our own parking enforcement officers to be involved and trained to the same standard as those from Dorset County Council or West Dorset District Council, in the interest of efficiency for those in Lyme Regis.”