PARENTS who sit with their engines idling outside Colchester schools could be fined as part of a council’s bid to keep children from breathing in toxic fumes.

At a recent meeting of Colchester Council’s environment and sustainability panel, councillors raised the issue of exhaust fumes around schools at drop-off and pick-up times.

The council supported action on ‘Clean Air Day’ on June 16, which saw social media posts and a demonstration held outside St Thomas More School in Colchester to discourage engine idling.

But opposition Conservative councillors Sue Lissimore and Darius Laws argued tougher action should be taken against parents who continue to leave their engines on outside schools.

Rural ward north councillor Mr Laws said: “We don’t at the moment have the ability to issue fixed penalty notices to people who are not turning their engines off when asked to.

“The great work we are doing around education does need to continue, because there are people that don’t know about this.”

He told the meeting he could “understand” why parents would want to keep their air conditioning on in the car on a hot day, but argued it shouldn’t come “at the expense of the fumes you are churning out”.

He said: “This authority needs to have the powers to able to issue people with fines.

“There’s no point waiting. Kids are breathing these fumes right now, we’ve got to tackle it head on.”

Prettygate councillor Ms Lissimore said: “I have been informed it is something [the council] can do.

“We have all these schools in our area and drivers all go at the same time – first thing in the morning and in the afternoon.

“I appreciate we only have a limited work force and we can’t be everywhere at the same time.

“Perhaps this is something we can add to the work programme to be looked at.”

Wivenhoe councillor Michelle Burrows argued education should come before fines.

She asked officers to investigate the possibility of installing signs around schools and on main roads discouraging engine idling.

“I know that something one of the primary schools is really interested in, so I would like to really harness the interest in that and get that going as soon as possible,” she said.

Officers agreed to look into the possibility of introducing fines for engine idling outside schools.