‘OUR job isn’t just to put tickets on cars – but to help people’.

That’s the pledge from one of west Oxfordshire’s new community wardens.

Kathryn James, a former police officer, is one of the district council’s six wardens who took to the streets on Monday.

She assured the public that wardens not only issued penalties for parking offences, but acted as the eyes and ears of West Oxfordshire District Council – reporting littering, graffiti and dog-fouling.

Previously, Thames Valley Police employed a traffic warden, who could hand out £30 fines for on-street parking offences, while West Oxfordshire District Council managed its car parks. But this week the force handed responsibility to the council for both on and off-street parking.

Ms James, who wears a green uniform with a high-visability jacket, said: “We always have very friendly dispositions and get a lot of people coming to talk to us.

“We are not just there to look at cars and put tickets on them. At the end of the day we are community wardens first and foremost.

“If we see people contravening the regulations we will do something about it, but we are certainly not here to make money for the council.

“I want to help keep the traffic flowing through Witney.

“That does not necessarily mean putting a ticket on a lorry, but speaking to drivers and asking them to drive on.”

The district council would not reveal how much it cost to launch the project, which is being part-funded by Oxfordshire County Council, but it said income from penalty charge notices (£70 for the most serious and £50 for lesser offences) would be used to improve local transport and parking services.

Council officer Michael McLoughlin said: “Money collected by the police went to a central pot, but money collected by our wardens will be spent in West Oxfordshire.”

David Harvey, cabinet member for the environment, said: “This is not about issuing more penalty notices.

“It’s about managing our car parking and traffic in a better, more sustainable way. The wardens are not just traffic wardens.”