Let’s hear it for traffic wardens

They are among the most hated people in urban Britain and – because many of them are from west Africa – often the victims of racial abuse. But, says Andrew Gimson, without their bravery and dedication our civilisation might collapse

Get a proper job, get a life, sod off back to Africa, black monkey, African prick, storm trooper, German scum. These are among the many insults thrown at parking wardens as they go about their daily work. The jibes about Africa reflect the curious fact that in London about 60 per cent of traffic wardens are from west Africa, while the jibes about Germany reflect the German ownership of Apcoa, one of the main companies in the parking business. The hatred and contempt which enforcers of parking regulations inspire among motorists would be hard to exaggerate, and they have also received a very bad press, with a number of my more intrepid colleagues going undercover as trainee wardens and filing horrific tales of unscrupulous wardens picking on innocent motorists.

So it is with a certain sense of professional inadequacy that I find myself obliged to report that traffic wardens are human beings. The Nigerian and Ghanaian wardens whom I interviewed are delightful people, staunch and good-humoured enough to withstand the torrent of physical threats and racial and other abuse to which they are subjected. They tend to be educated far above the level one would expect in a traffic warden. Many of them are university graduates who find that the qualifications and professional experience they have acquired in west Africa are considered worthless by employers in London. They need to start earning money as quickly as possible, so in many cases they take a first full-time job as a traffic warden, in which role if one is reasonably diligent and reliable one can earn £16,000 to £18,000 a year.