THEIRS is one of the most loathed professions in England. But in the month of romance, the people of South Lakeland are being urged to love their local traffic wardens, reports Ellie Hargreaves.

In a move to encourage the public to praise, rather than pan, their parking attendants, South Lakeland District Council has set up a special email address in time for Valentine's Day, where residents and visitors can affirm their affection and praise staff for their work.

The fan mail file was dreamed up by SLDC's head of parking Dave Conlin after the council received a number of letters commending his team, which, with a patch that attracts eight million visitors every year, has one of the busiest parking beats in the country.

"Parking attendants have an extremely good relationship with many members of the public that often goes unnoticed and unreported. At the end of the day they are just people trying to do a job," said Mr Conlin, who will be logging messages which come through to the temporary address welovetrafficwardens@southlakeland.gov.uk over the next month.

"I've been threatened with violence and I've had all the usual verbal abuse but after a while it goes over your head," added "parking attendant 8", who took time out from his Kendal beat to pose for a picture but declined to disclose his off-duty name for fear of reprisals.

More in The Gazette...