IT’S an understatement to say motorists and traffic wardens are not natural allies.

And because no one likes getting a ticket it is unlikely drivers will ever see eye to eye with the men and women whose job is to enforce parking regulations.

Although it is not a job that would appeal to everyone it is has to be done.

If wardens didn’t exist many inconsiderate people would quickly turn our town centres into a shambles by blocking entrances and loading areas while they run an errand that “will only take a couple of minutes.”

In the past week across East Lancashire we have read how one warden in Blackburn was deliberately driven at and Burnley magistrates have heard how a supermarket worker attacked a warden after chasing him around the car park where he had been booked. In Blackburn with Darwen alone there have been 23 incidents of verbal and physical abuse against wardens in less than 12 weeks.

Such behaviour is totally unacceptable. However much motorists disagree with action taken against them, disputes must be settled in a peaceful and rational manner.

Brute force cannot be allowed or in any way condoned as a means of settling arguments.