MORE than 80 motorists have been fined for parking dangerously outside borough schools in the last month.

Dudley Council's CCTV car aims to stop people from parking on yellow ‘keep clear’ zigzag lines outside school gates, which is an offence punishable by a £70 fine.

The car uses Google Maps and GPS to sense when a vehicle has been driven into an area with yellow zigzag lines and starts recording.

It stops when the car leaves the area, capturing the number plates of all those parked illegally while it is there.

If, after monitoring the footage, an offence has been committed, penalty charge notices are issued by post.

Government legislation states CCTV can only be used to enforce certain traffic offences, such as illegal parking on the yellow zigzags, on red routes or travelling in bus lanes.

It cannot be used to punish illegal parking on double yellow lines, or on white zigzags next to zebra or pelican crossings.

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “Illegal parking outside schools puts the lives of children at risk.

“The yellow zigzag lines are designed to keep the road clear so that children can see and be seen. People who flout the law and ignore the zigzags will be fined.

“The car is one of a range of measures designed to keep our roads safer and I am sure it will be welcomed by parents and the majority of law-abiding residents, who are as frustrated as we are at illegal parking.”