A MOTORIST drove a car into a traffic warden who was standing on the pavement after getting a ticket.

Council bosses said it was the latest in a series of attacks on parking attendants across Blackburn and Darwen.

The warden, who was left terrified by the incident, has appealed for more protection for he and his colleagues.

He was hit on the back of legs in Audley Range, Blackburn, outside Audley Spare Parts.

The warden stumbled forwards, but was not injured.

It is believed the attack was intended as intimidation rather than a serious bid to cause harm.

Later the yob, accompanied by friends, came back to taunt the warden.

Additional warden patrols had recently been introduced on Audley Range in a bid to crackdown on the amount of illegal parking on the street.

The warden, Anthony Barnes, of Blackburn, said he was talking to a shopkeeper when he was struck.

Mr Barnes, who has been in the job for four years, said: “The car came fully onto the pavement and ran into the back of my legs.

“I stumbled forward and was in pain.

“I was very frightened.

“I called 999. A colleague nearby also raised the alarm.

“Later the driver came back with friends and mocked me. They were asking ‘where is the dead body?’.

“I presume he had been previously booked and just took it out on me.”

Mr Barnes said that attacks were becoming more common, with ‘code red’ emergencies in which a worker is under threat being declared at least twice a week.

He said: “Nothing seems to be getting done to protect us.

“It seems to be getting more and more dangerous and is time to take a stand.

“We won’t be beaten by a couple of idiots.”

Council bosses have pledged to take a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to any verbal or physical threats on staff by reporting incidents to police.

Coun Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration and environment at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said: “I know civil enforcement officers are often not the most popular of people but there is no excuse for them to be verbally and physically abused.

“They are just going about their business carrying out their job, which is enforcing the council’s traffic regulation orders. During some of the incidents, the officers were lucky not to have been seriously injured.”

Audley councillor Yusuf Jan-Virmani said businesses had asked for more wardens on the street due to the number of cars being parked illegally.

He said: “It has been reported to me what happened and I am completely shocked that someone would deliberately try to run down an officer who is just doing their job.

“This is not acceptable behaviour and must not happen.

“There is a problem with people parking cars all over the place in Audley and the officers who had started patrols were doing a brilliant job.”

The incident happened last Tuesday at 3pm but the council has only just released details of the incident.

Police confirmed they were investigating the attack but that no arrests have yet been made.