PARKING tickets issued to drivers dropping off their children near Dunbar Primary School are to be cancelled, after it emerged that a traffic order needed to issue the tickets had expired.

Traffic wardens were outside Hallhill Sports Centre on Monday morning and seven tickets were given to drivers who had parked ‘illegally’.

However, East Lothian Council has now confirmed that the tickets will be cancelled because the traffic regulation order (TRO) in the area had expired.

Earlier, a number of people who had received parking tickets had spoken out on social media, unhappy they had received tickets while dropping children off for school camp that day.

The issue was also flagged up to Councillor Donna Collins, before the Dunbar and East Linton ward member the spoken to East Lothian Council’s legal department.

READ MORE: Seven parking tickets issued near Dunbar Primary School

And she confirmed: “All the parking tickets have been cancelled.

“The TRO on that area had expired, so they were not valid.”

The car park is regularly used by parents and carers taking their children to both campuses of Dunbar Primary School.

A spokesperson for the local authority said that work would now be carried out to reinstate the TRO.

Earlier today, they had highlighted that concerns about illegal parking were regularly raised with them by both staff at schools and also parents and carers.

In an earlier statement, they said: “Volumes of traffic and inconsiderate parking at school pick-up and drop-off times pose an increased safety risk to both children and parents.

“Parking restrictions, including double yellow lines, are essential measures outside schools to keep children safe.

“Parking on these lines is dangerous and illegal, leaving the driver open to fines and enforcement action.

“Our teams are regularly contacted by headteachers, parent councils and elected members concerned about road safety around schools and requesting support to deal with these matters.

“We therefore committed to visit different schools and monitor this, undertaking enforcement where appropriate.  

“Parking attendants were patrolling the areas around Dunbar Primary School campuses this morning and issued a number of parking charge notices (PCN)s to cars parked illegally on double yellow lines.

“If anyone feels they have been wrongly issued with a PCN, they can challenge this online through our website.”