WEST Devon motorists returning to their parked cars last week, hearts sinking as they saw the black and yellow of a fixed penalty notice stuck to their windscreens, will already know we have a new traffic warden in town, writes Alan Gregory.

Seonaid (pronounced Shenaid) Macintosh, 33, began work last Monday, to fill the gap left by the retirement of Carol Atkinson at the end of March.

That is not to say there was a parking free-for-all in the nearly four months Tavistock was without a warden — Tavistock police and their voluntary counterparts from the Special Constabulary took on the extra duties.

Seonaid has been a traffic warden for three years in some of the rougher parts of Plymouth and before that she was a security officer at Heathrow Airport — but after the high-life she was keen to return to her home town.

'I've lived in the Tavistock area for most of my life and my parents still live here,' she said. 'I wanted to return to a rural setting, to be closer to my family and work in more of a family-like environment. They are much nicer people here.'

The new post is full-time and covers the outlying areas around Tavistock, including Lifton, Princetown and Bere Alston as well as Tavistock itself.

Seonaid said: 'My role is to maintain the free flow of traffic. The job is going to be more community-oriented than it was in Plymouth — there you're dealing with so many people all the time, most of them you will never see again, whereas here I will see the same people most days.'.

'I believe in being fair to people, generally I'll give them several warnings but if they continue to take the mick I'll book 'em.'

Many people imagine the life of a traffic warden to be a thankless task rewarded only by harsh words and occasional violence. Seonaid agreed there was a lot of aggression in Plymouth but she thought she would be dealing with a different type of person here — 'Nicer, easier going,' she said.

But for all that she said it wasn't so common for people to be aggressive when they got a ticket.

'I explain why they've been given a ticket and I often suggest other places where they can park and they go away thanking me,' she said.

Seonaid will be free to work her 37 hours at any time during the week, which will keep people on their toes, she said.