South Tyneside Council has extended a contract with a Groundwork charity to run its civil parking enforcement in the area, as part of a trial piloting new service delivery models.

Under the contract, Groundwork South Tyneside and Newcastle’s trading company Windmill, issues parking tickets and enforces highway law in the borough, along with providing educational activities around road safety issues in schools and the local community.

South Tyneside Council started the partnership with Groundwork after ending its contract with private firm APCOA following evidence of "wrongly-issued tickets" in the conduct of parking charge notices.

The council transferred APCOA’s staff working under the parking contract to Groundwork. It has been announced this week that the partnership, which has been running on a trial basis since February, has been extended.

The local media in the area report that while APCOA was perceived as “ticket-happy” by the public, early indications show that fewer tickets have been issued through Groundwork.

A Council spokesman said: “We have extended the arrangement with Groundwork South Tyneside and Newcastle for a number of weeks to continue our evaluation of the trial.”

Andrew Watts, executive director of Groundwork South Tyneside and Newcastle, said: “This trial will provide the borough with a great opportunity to trial a new approach to innovative parking services that combines education, awareness and road safety which we believe will be of great benefit to the community.

"Groundwork is committed to improving the borough and is pleased to have been selected for this role as this model of service delivery demonstrates that South Tyneside Council is at the forefront of piloting new delivery models.”