What’s new: Stone councillor Jill Hood has called for ANPR cameras to enforce existing vehicle restrictions on Stone High Street.
Why it matters: Vehicles continue to enter the pedestrianised High Street during restricted hours, prompting longstanding concerns about pedestrian safety.
What’s next: Staffordshire County Council expects a report on moving traffic enforcement powers, with an initial submission to the Department for Transport potentially taking place in the first part of 2027.
This article is based on reporting from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a BBC funded initiative set up to strengthen reporting on local democratic issues. The Staffordshire Signal has taken part in the scheme since September 2026, which means we're able to draw on a selection of LDRS stories alongside our own.
A Stone community leader’s plea to Staffordshire County Council to install an ANPR system on the High Street to catch rule-breaking drivers has been described as “premature” by a cabinet member.
Stone High Street is supposed to be off limits for vehicles between 10am and 4.30pm, with access allowed outside of these hours for traders loading and unloading goods, but drivers flouting the ban have sparked safety concerns for pedestrians for several years.
Previous attempts have been made to enforce the traffic ban, involving the county council, Stafford Borough Council, Stone Town Council and Staffordshire Police. Bollards have also been installed during the day in a bid to prevent access to the High Street, but have been damaged by vehicles.
Last year Stone Town Council set aside £30,000 in its latest budget to help fund an ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) system. On Thursday (October 8), Stone councillor Jill Hood called on Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet to consider introducing camera-based enforcement in the town.
Councillor Hood said in her motion to the full council: “Stone High Street is intended to provide a safe and welcoming pedestrian environment. However, vehicles continue to enter and travel along the High Street during the restricted hours, despite clear road signs, prominent ‘No Entry’ markings and previous enforcement campaigns.
“The unauthorised movement and parking of vehicles within this busy pedestrian area presents a persistent and entirely avoidable risk of serious injury. Vehicles are using the High Street as a shortcut around Christchurch Way, to collect takeaways and to park close to shops, cafés, pubs and restaurants; this undermines the purpose of the existing Traffic Regulation Order and prevents residents and visitors from using the High Street with confidence.
“Previous police operations and other short-term enforcement initiatives have raised awareness but have not delivered a lasting change in driver behaviour. Signs and road markings are already clear, while physical bollards have been struck and damaged by vehicles.
“Occasional enforcement cannot provide the consistent deterrent required. ANPR enforcement would provide a practical, proportionate and sustainable solution.”
Councillor Hood said the move “would enforce an existing restriction rather than introduce a new one” and “operate consistently without requiring police officers or enforcement staff to remain permanently on site”. She added that it would enable penalty charge notices to be issued using reliable photographic evidence, reduce unauthorised parking and through-traffic and improve safety for pedestrians.
She said: “This proposal is not anti-car, it is about ensuring that drivers comply with restrictions that already exist and protecting people who are entitled to use the High Street safely. A restriction that is not consistently enforced will continue to be ignored.
“Stone Town Council has demonstrated the strength of local support by allocating £30,000 towards an ANPR scheme. However, the town council cannot introduce civil moving-traffic enforcement without the cooperation and statutory involvement of Staffordshire County Council.
“Residents have waited long enough for an effective solution -the dangers are known, the restrictions already exist, the proposed technology is established and local funding support has been offered. The question is no longer whether enforcement is needed, but how quickly the County Council will act to make Stone High Street safer.”
Councillor Hood called on the county council to consider “progressing, without unnecessary delay, the work required to obtain moving-traffic enforcement powers” and include Stone High Street as a priority location within the countywide business case.
But Councillor Peter Mason, cabinet member for strategic highways, said: “I do believe the motion is premature.
“While it does address the issues of Stone, the powers are taken on a county-wide basis. While it might seem simple to put a camera on either end of Stone High Street, other areas that may fall within this become far more difficult and expensive to do.
“We need to look at how far and how wide we take these powers and apply them across the county.
“I’m saying we need to review and understand these things first. We should not pre-determine the outcome and then make the facts fit the decision.
“We should look at the facts and then make a decision, which is why I have asked the officers to look into this and bring a report back to myself, and if we choose to proceed, then through cabinet for their approval for taking forward.
“If we were to do that, I’m expecting a report back and initial submission to the DfT (Department for Transport) for powers could be in the first part of 2027, with the first scheme probably being a trial scheme. Stone could be considered, along with others, as that trial area.
“I am a bit concerned – I don’t want to see motions used to bring capital investment projects for particular divisions forward to this council to decide. I don’t think this is particularly good use of a motion and it is a little politically driven, but I do understand why you have brought it and I do understand the concerns.
“I would ask that we vote against this motion now as I don’t want any pre-determination of the outcome of the officers’ report to myself, to decide whether or not we should take powers across Staffordshire as a whole. We cannot just take them for Stone.”
Written by Kerry Ashdown, Local Democracy Reporter.
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