COUNCILLORS have suggested they should send Somerset Council a bill for possible work carried out to refresh white line markings in Wellington town centre.

Wellington Town Council has previously said it is concerned about the parking chaos outside the former Post Office in the High Street where white line markings for parking bays had faded so badly they were virtually invisible.

It has meant some people – knowing that they can park there – have not been parking sensibly which had led to heated disagreements between drivers, vehicles being bumped and scraped and plenty of near misses.

But a request to Somerset Council to have the line markings repainted had so far fallen on deaf ears and the town council had received no response.

And Cllr John Thorne, speaking at Wellington Town Council’s monthly meeting on April 7, said: “It is horrendous there at the moment and the work needs to be done. People see accidents happen there virtually every day and there are fights between drivers.”

But Cllr Justin Cole said: “I’m not sure we should be spending money on this as it is a Somerset Council issue. If we spent money on this – where do we draw the line?”

“This is not our responsibility – it’s Somerset Council’s responsibility. Perhaps we could just put big plant pots in the way to stop people parking there?

“But Somerset Council should be dealing with this – not us.”

Cllr Keith Wheatley said: “Cllr Cole is right; in principle it is nothing to do with this council, but Somerset Council. But we have to look at this in a pragmatic way – the road markings have worn away.

“We have now got traffic anarchy in the town which is proving distressing for some people who get involved in it.

“For a minimal cost we could pay for white lines to be re-installed. If it was going to cost £10,000 I would be saying no way on this planet, but it isn’t going to cost that to resolve the problem.”

Cllr Marcus Barr said the parking there was intended for three cars, but now that the white lines had virtually disappeared around half a dozen or so vehicles were parking there.

“Some people are taking the Mickey out of the situation and some are parking there all day,” he said.

Cllr Mike McGuffie said the town council should look at the legislation to see if the town council could re-introduce the white line marking there, although it was a Somerset Council role.

Cllr Chris Penk said: “What this problem does show is a big need for on-street parking in Wellington town centre.”

And Cllr Mark Lithgow said: “We should get the work done and then send Somerset Council the bill – send them an invoice!

“We aren’t putting anything new down white lines – we’d just be refreshing the faded white lines. I am sure enforcement officers would give out tickets.”

Councillors agreed for the council to look more closely at the necessary legislation and the costs involved.