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Parking Ticket Increase in the UK

 

Last year, traffic wardens in the United Kingdom allegedly issued a parking ticket every four seconds, which totalled 7.8,000,000 fines for motorists which pulled in an astronomical £255,000,000.

 

In the past, certain councils have been questioned over parking ticket charges and how they might be using them as a cash cow. We at Shortfall have featured road safety a number of times and insist that motorist should choose not to park on double yellow lines due to safety reasons. However, a number of people have questioned the integrity of traffic wardens and whether or not they are following the strict government guidelines.

 

These figures were obtained through a number of freedom of information requests that were made by Churchill Insurance. The results showed that Westminster City Council allegedly issued the equivalent of four times it's amount of residents in Penalty Charge Notices last year, which for 455,000 penalty fines, generated a £24,000,000 income.

 

Other than the Capital, Cardiff was the city that issued the most fines, with 57,000 being issued, whilst the Council that generated the most revenue was North Somerset, with alleged figures of £25,000,000.

 

These figure variations come as councils are able to choose their own parking charges, which are usually at £40 or £60 and the money that is generated is then the councils to spend on the roads in their particular area.

 

Out of 435 councils in the United Kingdom, allegedly there were only 187 that responded to the freedom of information requests, which means that essentially, there could be councils in the United Kingdom that are making higher amounts from motorists.

 

Out of the councils that did respond to the freedom of information requests, there was an average of 23,000 fines issued, whilst there was one in 15 fines that were challenged successfully.

 

Since 2012 the number of tickets that have been issued has fell last year by 1.5%, after Eric Pickles the communities secretary said that local authorities should not be using parking as a cash cow or tax.

 

Allegedly, there are however some councils that increased the amount of fines that were issued, with Runnymede Borough Council which is in Surrey allegedly showing a rise of 55% in Penalty Charge Notices that were given out last year.