PLANS to put the brakes on motorists who openly flout the district's on-street parking restrictions appear to have stalled after suffering yet another delay.

New on-street parking restrictions were due to be introduced in West Somerset before the end of the summer but are now unlikely to be rolled out until April next year at the earliest.

And even that date is not guaranteed as a number of district councils, including West Somerset, have either refused to sign up or have raised concerns about proposals for a countywide civil parking enforcement (CPE) scheme.

Somerset County Council is spearheading proposals for a countywide CPE partnership which would see an army of local authority-employed wardens patrolling the streets of West Somerset before April next year.

The scheme had been earmarked to start this summer, was then delayed to February next year and is now on the cards for "no later than April 1".

Members of the county council's scrutiny committee were given an update on the progress of the scheme when they met on Tuesday.

They were warned that "some district councils are concerned about the predicted financial impact on off-street car park operations".

But officers said West Somerset Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council and Sedgemoor District Council had agreed to the idea of a partnership in principle.

South Somerset District Council supported the partnership but was unwilling to sign up for a county council-led enforcement service, while Mendip District Council had historically refused to join the scheme.

Mendip councillors were due to meet this week to discuss revised proposals for joining the partnership and on Wednesday, West Somerset councillors said they too still had concerns.

Cabinet member Cllr Steven Pugsley said: "If there is an inference [by the county council] that we are happy with it, that is not the case."

Cllr Doug Ross accused the county council of "prevaricating" over the introduction of the scheme and suggested West Somerset should go it alone or join a scaled-down scheme with a neighbouring authority.

"It seems to be being put off, put off and put off," Cllr Ross said.

District council chief executive Adrian Dyer said it was clear pressure would have to be put on the county council to ensure progress was made sooner rather than later.

Under civil parking enforcement, the responsibility for imposing on-street parking restrictions would pass from the police to a task force employed by local councils.

The county council wants to take charge of the proposed partnership, which would see all local staff currently employed as car park wardens by the district councils transferred to the new regime.

District authorities would then be able to buy enforcement services for both on and off-street car parking from the county authority.

While the county council would retain any income derived from on-street penalties and cash generated by on-street charges or residents' parking schemes, the districts would retain the income from their off-street car parks.

And it is likely the scheme could see both on and off-street parking charges rise.

Brian Cull, group manager of the county council's traffic management section, told Tuesday's county council scrutiny committee meeting extra cash could be needed to pay for enforcement.

In a report he said: "If an application for CPE is made that excludes one or more districts it has an adverse effect on the financial predictions for the project.

"To pay for an acceptable level of enforcement it may be necessary to introduce more on-street pay parking in the towns of Somerset.

"Detailed analysis of the cost and income from on-street parking enforcement in Taunton suggest that it may be necessary to increase the amount of on-street paid-for parking in the town centres of Somerset and to review existing charges for pay parking and residents permits in order for acceptable levels of enforcement."

Councillors were privately given a breakdown of the anticipated costs of the scheme in a confidential report.

Mr Cull said the scheme could be delivered more economically if all councils signed up to all aspects of the partnership.

"If costs exceed income, the difference could be bridged by increasing the provision of on-street paid-for parking in Somerset towns," he said.

Previously, Mr Cull has told West Somerset Council members that turning on-street parking violations into civil rather than criminal offences will help to crack down on the abuse of short-stay parking spaces, in particular.

It was estimated the district council could save around £45,000 a year by joining the partnership as it would only need to buy "enforcement hours", while the county council would cover the costs of wardens travelling to and from areas.

Councillors were told district council staff currently spent a quarter of their time travelling between locations, while better enforcement of on-street restrictions would force people into car parks, increasing the authority's revenue.

Following Tuesday's scrutiny meeting, a spokesman for Somerset County Council said the authority was still discussing "all options" for CPE.