EMPLOYING a traffic officer to prevent vehicles from driving illegally through pedestrian zones in Caldicot is no longer a feasible option, a meeting heard.

Aaron Reeks, chairman of the Caldicot Town Team, was asked in a public meeting held in the town council's offices on September 12 to look into financing a traffic officer to stop vehicles driving through Newport Road, a pedestrian zone in the town.

But it was revealed at a Severnside Programme Board meeting on Monday in Caldicot that the option would not be practical for the town.

Mr Reeks said: "We looked at the feasibility of employing a traffic officer, however that threw up a few problems of its own. The road is considered a main highway and a traffic officer would have no right to enforce ruling upon people.

"Only Gwent Police has powers to charge members of the public on a highway."

He added: "There is the possibility that we could employ somebody to police businesses and to install a bollard between 10am and 5pm. That would remove the excess costs of having an electric bollard system and the risk of something going wrong with them -the cost would be much cheaper and a more viable option."

The Free Press has previously reported of the increasing concerns in the town for pedestrian’s safety after a 54-year-old woman with a pushchair containing a 20-month-old baby girl was involved in a road collision with a van on August 20, outside Wye Valley Studios on Newport Road.

Paul Keeble, Monmouthshire council's traffic and network manager, re-iterated the council's agreement to introduce a permit scheme for businesses which would provide certain times in which they would be able to access the road for deliveries but he said only a small number of businesses are justified in having a permit.

Seven out of 47 ground floor businesses on Newport Road do not have rear access to their premises and have delivery drivers travelling through the town centre. Cllr Alan Davies, mayor of Caldicot, has concerns that the permit system would not solve the problem of vehicles driving through the pedestrian zone.

He said: “The priority is safety to the public. If businesses can alter their rear access then they should do something to it.

“In affect what we have proposed isn’t going to solve anything – it’s going to carry on.”

Sgt Phil Purcell said: “This has been an issue for the past year and we have visited every single business. But to be honest it’s fallen on deaf ears in many cases.”

The police have handed out numerous warnings to drivers in the pedestrian zones but Sgt Purcell says there isn’t enough manpower to patrol the area regularly.