THE new private traffic wardens in East Lothian will be kitted out with body cameras to record any incidents that occur as they carry out their patrols.

The video cameras, which can be mounted on the chest or head, will capture film and sound.

NSL Ltd, which is providing the parking attendants to East Lothian Council under a five-year contract, has launched a public consultation with the local authority to gauge people’s views on the cameras.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The use of body-worn cameras has already been adopted by a number of other councils across the UK. East Lothian Council and its partner NSL are consulting with people in East Lothian to understand their views on this.”

The consultation states: “Staff safety and professionalism is of utmost importance. Recording devices provide a factual record of events and have been [shown] to support staff in difficult situations.

“To help manage traffic, including on and off-street parking restrictions, East Lothian Council and NSL are to equip parking attendants with body-worn video cameras.”

Body-worn cameras have been used by a number of local authorities to back up council-run parking services in the UK.

City of Edinburgh Council even equipped their litter wardens with the lightweight cameras as part of a trial over the summer.

East Lothian’s team of parking attendants will wear the cameras but they will not be recording at all times.

The officer will be able to activate it in situations where it is felt the recording is needed.

The footage is encrypted and stored on the device before being transferred to a secure storage facility at the end of each shift, where it is held for up to 90 days.

The officers themselves are, according to the consultation, not able to view or access the footage recorded during shifts.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the grace period operating in the county – after parking attendants took to the streets before legislation allowing them to issue fines was in place – will continue into the new year, with no fines until the new starting date of January 23.

A council spokesperson said: “The council is progressing a phased introduction, which means parking attendants will be visible on-street issuing advisory notices prior to the scheme going ahead fully towards the end of January. Enforcement is still currently the responsibility of police.”