MOTORISTS are facing a rogue parking purge which will lead to thousands more tickets being issued and free up more police officers to fight serious crimes.

Highways chiefs in Blackburn with Darwen and Lancashire County Council are in talks over taking over traffic warden duties, which could mean employing their own traffic attendants, or possibly private companies to do the work for them. The change, which both authorities want to bring in as soon as possible, will make parking infringements a top priority in a bid to improve road safety.

Police, who currently give priority to more serious matters, have welcomed the move as a way of freeing up officers and cash to tackle crime.

Police in the county currently employ around 115 traffic wardens across the county who enforce traffic regulations along with officers, with fines going to the government's central funds.

In 1998-99 79,746 fixed penalty tickets were handed out to motorists across Lancashire, falling to 71,956 in 1999-2000.

Under the new system councils would receive the fines but would only be able to use them for traffic management, to make the scheme self financing.

London was the first to take over enforcing parking restrictions from the police in 1994. Manchester employs a private company to book drivers in the city centre, and Nottingham and Liverpool are both about to adopt the scheme.

In Oxfordshire, where decriminalised parking was brought in in 1997, traffic chiefs estimate the number of fixed penalty tickets handed out rose by two thirds, from around 30,000 per year from police and traffic wardens to 50,000 year at present by a private company run by London-based Central Parking Systems.

Ashley Whalley, executive member of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "The specific reason we are interested is it enables us to provide a better service to local people. We know where the problems are and which issues need dealing with."

The chairman of Lancashire County Council's highways committee, Richard Toon, said: "A council run service could be more efficient and lead to a higher level of enforcement, but we need to carry out research first."

He said: "I think most people when they go around town centres will see a lot of infringements of the regulations. When it is raised with the police they say they don't have the resources to deal with those issues adequately.

"And if you talk to the police they will say it's not at the top of their priorities. Under decriminalised parking it would be given high priority. We think the system of traffic management would be improved radically."

Lancashire police say they are in favour of the proposals.