LANCASHIRE Constabulary's decision to end its traffic warden service will lead to police officers working under greater pressure, a union claimed today.

Mike Beeston, of Unison, has called a meeting of Lancashire MPs on March 25 to try and lobby the force to reverse its decision.

The traffic warden service in Lancashire is currently being disbanded, ready for 2004, when ticketing vehicles will become the responsibility of local authorities.

Other forces, such as Greater Manchester, are retaining traffic wardens, but in Lancashire the majority are being given other roles in the police, such as community support officers.

Lancashire police said it had been 'at pains' to look after them and that their new roles had more responsibilities than before. But Mr Beeston, whose union represents the constabulary's traffic wardens and other civilian employees, said that issuing parking tickets had become a small part of a traffic warden's duties in recent years as they took on a range of extra and vital tasks, including:

fingerprinting vehicles and organising identity parades

road safety work and transporting vehicles and forensic material for investigation

organising identity parades and providing security at party political conferences, cordons at serious incidents and a high visibility presence at sporting events.

Mr Beeston said: "All of these activities remove pressure from police officers, giving them more time to concentrate on other crucial aspects of police business.

"The loss of the police traffic warden service is going to put greater pressure on the uniformed police officer and remove a valuable and visible uniformed presence from the streets of Lancashire.

"If the Constabulary disbands the traffic warden services, these important duties will either not be carried out or become an expensive use of police officer time.

"We believe that the most efficient use of Lancashire Constabulary's limited resources is to have these functions carried out by police traffic wardens."

Most traffic wardens in the county are already in their new roles, with police officers issuing parking tickets in the interim period until 2004.

A police spokesman said: "Clearly, if town centres are snarled up by illegally parked vehicles, then the lives of the majority will be adversely affected.

"Every divisional commander has clear plans to ensure parking restrictions are enforced during the transitional period.

"The Constabulary has been at pains to look after its traffic wardens, who are all valued employees.

"There is no doubt the decision to decriminalise parking has led to uncertainty among the traffic wardens.

"The Constabulary alleviated this by successfully bidding to the Home Office for funding for 72 police community support officers, with many of those posts being filled by traffic wardens, not only to secure their future, but also to give them a wider range of responsibilities."