IT’S exactly 50 years since Basildon got its first ever traffic warden.

The woman for the job was Betty Morriss and she started work on June 29, 1970.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: First lady – Basildon’s first traffic warden, Betty Morriss, photographed in June 1970First lady – Basildon’s first traffic warden, Betty Morriss, photographed in June 1970

The right woman for the job was mother-of-four Betty Morriss, of Waverley Crescent, Wickford.                                                                                                       

 The 28-year-old was eager to begin patrolling the beat- but she did have one confession to make: “I’m afraid I can’t drive,” she exclaimed as she began her first shift.

“I did start to learn but I’m afraid I never took my test, then I just gave up.”

Betty began her first day on the job patrolling Long Riding in Basildon, which was then considered a parking blackspot.

She remained Basildon’s only parking warden until the autumn of 1970 when two more traffic wardens were employed.

It wasn’t long before more wardens were springing up across Basildon and Southend.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Friendly – Traffic warden Fred Clarke in Warrior Square, Southend in 1972Friendly – Traffic warden Fred Clarke in Warrior Square, Southend in 1972

Traffic wardens had been around in the UK since the 1960s when the first batch of uniformed parking enforcement officers marched onto the streets of Westminster.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Westcliff wardens – Lee Eager and Jacqueline Smith in 1990Westcliff wardens – Lee Eager and Jacqueline Smith in 1990

The first penalty charge notice ever issued in England was given to a doctor who was answering an emergency call to help a heart attack victim in a West End hotel.

There was such a public outcry over the incident that he was eventually let off the £2 fine.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Oh joy – was Santa being ticketed here?Oh joy – was Santa being ticketed here?