MORE than 2,000 traders and residents have signed a petition demanding a review of Southend Council’s spy cars.

It’s almost a year since the controversial cars were launched and the sheer volume of signatures means the issue will now have to be debated at a full council meeting.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed the two cars have resulted in almost 10,000 tickets being dished out to motorists, generating almost £230,000 in parking fines for the council at least.

While some claim the cars help to clear clogged side streets and protect Southend’s schools from poor parking, others argue they are nothing more than cash cows.

Campaigner Bob Wells launched the petition calling for a review of the way the cars are used.

Mr Wells, 52, of The Drive, Chalkwell, said: “I hope we are building the fear factor with the council and it can see we are not dropping the issue or ignoring it.

“I would like to see the cars taken off the streets altogether, but I don’t think that will happen.

“Ideally, I would love to sit down with the council and have a reasoned conversation with it about the scheme and the issues we have and how to solve the problem, but I don’t see that happening either.”

The spy cars, which record parking offences with a rotating camera, were brought in by the council last June after chiefs saw how effective they had been elsewhere in the country.

The vehicles are tasked with patrolling the zig-zagged, no stopping zones outside schools.

Outside of that, they are deployed to streets where residents or council bosses believe there is problem with illegal parking.

However, their freedom to stop on the way to a destination, and even take detours to catch unsuspecting motorists, has prompted many to brand them a threat to civil liberties.

The situation was muddied further by a landmark appeal case in April, in which a national tribunal adjudicator ruled the cars were possibly being used inappropriately in some instances, as their role could have been performed by wardens on foot instead.

Mr Wells, who owns Printer and Cartridge Solutions, in Woodgrange Drive, Southend, said: “We just want the council to use the cars in a legally and morally responsible way, and have a common sense approach about it.

“We think the punishment should fit the crime, and at the moment it is not.”

Mr Wells has been backed by Mike Stafford, an Independent councillor for Thorpe.

He said: “I think it has got totally out of control. There needs to be some discretion used.

“I have had lots of people approach me saying it has affected their business and we need to help them out as much as we can.”

The petition is now set to be discussed by Southend councillors as it has exceeded the threshold of 1,500 signatures needed to force a debate during a full council meeting.