The council has been working closely with the police to carry out enforcement action against people parking illegally in the borough.
The council’s parking contractor (removals and estates), NSL, and Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) assisted in one operation to ensure residents and visitors comply with the parking regulations whilst helping to tackle any possible links to criminal activity.
Metropolitan Police officers joined NSL and the council’s Parking, Mobility and Transport Services team on September 7, 2015 to a visit to the Ocean, Approach and Solander Gardens estates.
The police were keen to clamp down on any vehicles allegedly used in drug dealing and money laundering activities across the areas targeted.
On the visit, council and police officers identified nine vehicles as potentially abandoned – the majority are linked to criminal activity and have no registered keeper.
One of the nine vehicles suspected has previously been reported as stolen.
Some of these vehicles have been removed and will hopefully be scrapped as they are thought to be directly linked to ongoing criminal activity.
Many of the parking restrictions signs had been removed on the estates. The council is now working to reinstate the signs.
A total of 14 tickets were issued during the first operation of its kind, and the aim is for these to be undertaken once every six weeks.
Cllr Ayas Miah, cabinet member for Environment said: “These new patrols show how working with the Metropolitan Police, our parking contractor and housing associations is an effective way of helping stop illegal activity in the borough.
“I am really pleased that this first operation was considered such a success by everyone involved, and continued collaborative working will only help the borough become a safer place.”