A British company has developed a system which uses sensors embedded in the highway to alert parking attendants or cameras to illegally-parked vehicles. Partem has patented the sensor that detects the presence of vehicles and communicates with a central control unit. Parking officers with hand-held GPS-enabled devices can then be directed to the scene. The same system could be used to direct drivers to the nearest free parking spaces, using SMS texting to mobile phones, or bill owners of vehicles fitted with on-board electronic tags, said Paul Alexander, its inventor. Two unnamed English local authorities are considering trials of the ‘vehicular obstruction location identification system’.