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
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
Thames Royal 94,618 Bournemouth 34,936
Hackney 90,095 Milton Keynes 32,421
Barking & Maidstone (Kent ) 30,848
Dagenham 88,566
Merton 86,817
NB – Source of data Churchill Insurance.