DRIVERS who flout parking laws on Kirklees streets are set to be hit by a new team of law enforcers.

Council leaders were this afternoon making the first steps towards taking over the enforcement of parking laws from the police.

The district is set to make hundreds of thousands of pounds by taking over from the police the handing out of parking tickets.

If the transfer goes ahead, fines money will go to the council instead of the Home Office, and traffic wardens will be replaced by council parking attendants.

One hundred miles of road in Kirklees will be patrolled by officers looking for vehicles parked on double yellow lines or in permit-only spaces.

Jeff English, Kirklees Council transportation manager, said: "It will help us direct our resources. Every year we get told by the public that they want new enforcement measures or that some measures aren't working.

"We can only respond at the moment by passing these concerns to the police. In the new regime the council will be in control.

"We recognise the benefits of this for Kirklees. We can keep traffic flowing properly and we can have proper enforcement."

It could cost £930,000 to set up the new scheme and it is expected to run at a loss for the first few years.

An extra nine parking attendants will be needed for every shift and six more administration staff will be taken on to deal with the 22,000 extra penalty notices the council will handle each year.

Councillors meeting at Huddersfield Town Hall this afternoon were being asked to apply for permission to the Department for Transport.

A scheme could be in place in Kirklees some time between January and June of 2006.