Anger as Parking Fine is Issued Every 4 Seconds

Anger as Parking  Fine is Issued Every 4 Seconds

Ministers and campaigners  called for an end to rip off parking fines as it emerged  one is issued every four seconds.

Car insurance company Churchill said ‘ Town Halls have raked in £255millions as they dished out 7.8million tickets last year.

Meanwhile, civil liberty campaigners Big Brother Watch said councils raised £311 millions in traffic fines from CCTV alone in five years and urged  ministers  to probe whether cameras were being illegally used to snare motorists.

Local Government minister Brandon Lewis backed their call and said “ it is clear CCTV is being used to raise money in industrial volumes for town halls and we intend to clamp  down on this clear abuse. The public wants CCTV to be used to catch criminals, not to prosecute shoppers. “

Figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws, show that 23,000 tickets on average were issued by each town hall and Only 1 in 15 were successfully challenged.

Big Brother Watch  reported 87%  rise since 2009 in those councils using CCTV to spot road offences. That came despite Government guidelines urging cameras to be employed “ sparingly “ for this purpose. At least 58 councils used them with London accounting for 90% of all cash raised.

Big Brother watch’s Emma Carr said “ Ministers should investigate whether use of cameras to snoop on motorists breaches surveillance laws. Using CCTV for parking should be banned.

WORST HOTSPOTS IN LONDON       WORST HOTSPOTS OUTSIDE LONDON

Councils          PCNs issed in 2013                 Councils          PCNs issued in 2013              

Westminister City       455,390                         Cardiff                       56,766

Newham                      186,414                       Cornwall                    47,002

Barnet                         171,545                        Oxfordshire County    37,777

Haringey                     163,627                        Merseyside                 37,320

Croydon                      108,409                       Swansea City              35,543

Kingston upon                                                  Lincolnshire                35,275

Thames Royal             94,618                          Bournemouth              34,936

Enfield                        92,886                          Portsmouth City          34,510

Hackney                      90,095                         Milton Keynes            32,421

Barking &                                                        Maidstone (Kent)       30,848

Dagenham                   88,566

Merton                        86,817

NB – Source of data Churchill Insurance.