Herefordshire’s traffic wardens suffered 11 physical assaults and 21 verbal assaults in the year to April – nearly twice the figures for the previous year.

Officially known as civil enforcement officers or CEOs, the county’s traffic wardens are directly employed by Herefordshire Council to enforce on- and off-street parking restrictions including in the 39 car parks it operates.

In four cases in the last financial year, drivers drove their vehicles at traffic wardens, according to a council response to a freedom of information request.

In one case, a driver “accelerated towards” an officer, “stopping shortly before impact” after they had been issued with a parking ticket (officially, a penalty charge notice, or PCN).

On three other occasions, drivers actually “drove into” traffic wardens, in one case repeatedly, the council’s response said.

One driver “attempted to grab” a traffic warden while issuing a parking ticket, while another was “assaulted while talking to another member of the public”.

There were four further instances of traffic wardens being shoved during or after issuing PCNs, while on one occasion, wardens “intervened after drunken driver almost crashed”.

The 21 instances of verbal abuse included threats of violence, “aggressive behaviour” and on one occasion, filming.

In the previous financial year, six physical and 11 verbal assaults were recorded on the county’s traffic wardens.

In the same year wardens issued 21,995 PCNs, of which 4,892 were challenged leading to 2,129 being cancelled.

Those which were paid raised nearly £666,000 from the county – a third as much again as it made from pay-and-display tickets and parking permits combined.