MORE parents have come forward to complain about being caught out by a Southend Council spy camera car as they stopped they cars near a zebra crossing in Shoebury.

The mums are angry after being targeted by the council’s spy car near Shoebury High School, in Caulfield Road.

Their complaints come after the Echo highlighted the case of Graham Wilkinson, of Jena Close, Shoebury, who was given a £35 fine for stopping at a zebra crossing outside the school to drop off his son, Joel, and to allow pupils across the crossing.

Jodie Cook, 36, of Hinguar Street, Shoebury, also received a £35 fine in the post last week for letting son Leighton, 16, out of the car while stopping at the same crossing on February 24.

She said: “My son said he had to go and got out of the car when I was about a foot away from the zig zags, which you can clearly see from the photos on my fine, and they also only show one second has elapsed.

“As soon as I mentioned this on Facebook, about five other people said the same thing had happened to them, and I think there will be a lot of people in Shoebury who have had the same thing happen.

“I think the spy car is just sitting in wait there to catch people out, but I can’t see how stopping here is an offence.”

Sarah Jacobs, 44, of Burlescoombe Road, Thorpe Bay, was ‘caught’ on three occasions for stopping no more than a few seconds at the same zebra crossing .

She received the three fines from the council last Tuesday morning, each ordering her to pay £35 within 21 days or £70 afterwards for the ‘offences’ on February 26 and 28 and March 5.

She said: “I was sat in my car while children were crossing and told my daughter she may as well get out while we were waiting because there so many children, and, at the sixth form, if they get in any later than 8.30am they get a detention.

“I don’t know whether you’re supposed to mow people down when they’re crossing the road or what but, if I had waited for all these children to finish crossing before I let my daughter out, she would have got a detention for being late.”

Sarah Kavanagh, 36, said her 19-year-old daughter, Shannon, had been fined for dropping off her 15-year-old brother Callum outside Richmond Avenue Primary, in Shoebury, where he is on a work placement.

Shannon had stopped the car to allow other traffic through when she was caught.

Sarah said: “You can see from the photo that she’s in the middle of the road, there’s traffic coming towards her, and you can see her foot is on the brake pedal and the van is still approaching her when Stephen gets out.”

The letter she received describes the offence as being “parked in a restricted area outside a school when waiting, stopping, dropping off or picking up of a passenger was prohibited”.