Parking fines make Shropshire Council £1 million in three years

Since 2014 Shropshire Council has dished out almost 38,000 fine tickets.

It collected a total of £1,167,352, paid for by drivers who have outstayed their welcome at council run car parks

Figures also released following a Freedom of Information request show that in Telford & Wrekin, the council has collected £61,128 from fines and given out 2,745 parking fines since April 2013.

The Shropshire Star revealed earlier this month that 30 per cent of fines are overturned on appeal in the county.

But today's figures show councils still bring in substantial revenue from tickets it issues.

Officials from Shropshire Council say the payments are used to fund the work of the parking enforcement team, together with all associated running and management costs.

There has been a 36.7 per cent rise in the number of parking tickets issued by Shropshire Council between 2014 and 2016. In 2014 there were 11,071 tickets issued, in 2015 11,723 were given out and last year 15,138 were issued.

Frances Darling, Shropshire Council’s trading standards and licensing operation manager, said the increase is due to more targeted enforcement.

The top five car parks in Shropshire where drivers were caught last year were in Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Shrewsbury.

The most fines were issued in Listley Street, Bridgnorth where 572 were given out and more than £10,000 collected from the fines last year, considerably more than any other car park in Shropshire.

Ms Darling added: “Penalty charge notice (PCN) payments are used to fund the work of the parking enforcement team, together with all associated running and management costs.

"The legislation that governs PCNs prohibits the council from using PCN payments for anything other than this purpose and for highways-related work.

“The increase in PCN payments is fundamentally due to an increase in targeted enforcement on highways where the parking enforcement team is made aware of parking problems by residents or other partners, or where civil enforcement officers find evidence of contraventions of parking regulations as part of their normal patrols.

"The council directly employs and manages a team of officers who work to very strict guidelines when issuing PCNs for vehicles parked in contravention of parking regulations.

"PCNs require payment of a penalty but do not result in a criminal record or points on a motorists licence. If a motorist feels they have been unfairly penalised, there is an appeal process.

“The parking enforcement team operates an intelligence-led approach and targets problem areas in order to benefit everyone.

"Fundamentally, it is the responsibility of the motorist to comply with all parking regulations.

"In a perfect world, all motorists would comply, the CEOs would not have to issue any PCNs, and the PCN payments to the council would reduce to zero.”

In Telford & Wrekin the amount of fines collected in council-run car parks has also increase from £14,948 in 2013/14 to £24,080 in 2015/16.

Last year Darby House car park in Telford Town Centre saw the most fines issued – a total of 192, this was followed by 140 issued at Victoria Road North car park in Wellington.