£280,000 for bad parking
Tuesday 31st July 2007, 12:50PM BST.
Shropshire motorists have paid more than £280,000 in fines since new parking wardens hit the streets, figures obtained by the Shropshire Star showed today.ParkRight, the organisation which took over parking enforcement from the police in November, is now issuing about 2,000 tickets each month.
Bosses claim the new scheme has reduced illegal parking and eliminated problem hotspots around the county, such as Shrewsbury High Street.
Since its inception ParkRight had issued 13,356 parking charge notices up to the end of June.
Of these fines, motorists have actually paid 8,556, with the remaining 4,800 either current, cancelled or wavered.
The majority of fines – a total of 7,725 – have been paid at the reduced rate of £30, given for paying within 14 days. ParkRight said 760 had been paid at the full £60 rate while 71 motorists were stung for £90 – the amount for not paying within 56 days.
It means the organisation netted £283,740 in just seven months.
Sandy Harper, manager of ParkRight, said the figures were in line with forecasts made by consultants prior to the organisation being set up.
“We are controlling illegal and indiscriminate parking in Shropshire,” he said. “The better we do it the less parking charge notices we issue and the more people abide by the rules.”
Mr Harper said fines peaked in December but have since settled down.
“Motorists seem happy with what we are doing to tackle illegal parking. We have dealt with all of the hotspots.”
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more legal theft only could this happen in the uk , these guys and girls ought to get real jobs
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Mr Finch might want to check his facts,”only in uk” . In Germany you get a parking ticket for parking the wrong way!! Good luck to theses people, If idiots didn’t park ileagly they wouldn’t have a job!
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I think they are doing a great job – this town was like bandit country for 5 years when nobody would take responsibility for illegal parking and cars blocked narrow roads and streets in the town centre – thank goodness that eventually this has been sorted out.
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i have noticed over time that the people who complain about these guys and girls , are usually the ones who have been caught, the ones who feel they are above everybody and can park where they like without the consequence.
So,if people did abide by the rules and not illegalley park, we would not need wardens, and they would have another REAL job. NO, i am not a traffic warden, just one who feels they are needed.
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Motorists should boycott towns which do not have adequate parking. Unlike thugs who ignore on the spot fines the motorists have no alternative but to pay up.
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Bizarre comment ANDREW.
The laws are perfectly clear about where you can park. If you dont abide by them you get fined, I dont see how that is theft.
When inconsiderate people park in stupid places causing traffic hold-ups, they are causing all the law-abiding motorists to waste time queueing to get round them. Time is precious, surely this is ‘theft’ of part of our lives.
I think the ParkRight people are doing a great job, but surely the fines should be a lot higher, £30 is nothing these days and hardly a deterent to some.
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they are doing a proper job. if you choose to take the law into your own hands then you pay the price.
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i think your comment is very unfair, the clasification of a real job?
- a paid position of employment
- a difficult task
- a transaction in which private advantage prevails over duty or public interest
i feel that parking has much inproved and have found them very helpful for what at times must be a difficult job.
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Re: Article…AB-SO-LUTELY!!
People working from home in the outskirts parked outside their OWN house!! the nerve of it, sting ‘em I say. Whats this? nice empty back street, motorist popped into town to do a little shopping while the town still has some shops with character in it, Book him Danno!! Visitors to Shrewsbury lured here by the tourist board to look around our medieval town before the council flogs or flattens it, whats that? one minute over the hour! pah! send ‘em away with a thirty quid souvenir! that’ll stop ‘em coming back. Admittedly theres still a few things that need sorting er..Iraq, Darfur, glacial meltdown, imminent Eco-Armaggeddon, but one thing I DO know!! They sorted the ‘illegal’ parkers of Shrewsbury out!!
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first things first, im 42 have driven for 24 years,and never had any parking tickets or any other driving convitions ,and yes to the germany parking point book him if there stupid enough to park in the wrong direction , the police do it here its dangerous, that out of the way i maintain my point its plain old theft take a trip to london people cant even park outside there own homes with out getting tickets or clamped by over zelous parking attendents , i witnessed one in shrewsbury, the park rite oik ticketed a car in the carpark (short stay) on inspection over satyed by 6 minutes driver turned up as parking attendant walking away unlike the old style warden no discretion is given, its just a scam to make as much dosh as possible and is cowboy regulated ,like the old wheel clampers, and yes they do need to get a proper job lets face it some seem to enjoy it far to much very unhealthy.
yes ticket blatant bad parking etc but with discretion, that is not what you get from firms like this its all profit, and will damage shrewsbury further , its going to be a ghost town in 10 years especially when they introduce the congestion charge, oh yes it will come sooner or later again legal theft lets see how many complainers we get then??
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The town has had it too easy for too long. I fully support these brave chaps. We also need permit parking schemes where residential areas are close to town.
I love the smell of parking tickets in the morning!
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Come on guys, and moderator who probably wont post this comment: I have no problem with the parking tickets being issued, you should park properly, but before the council agrees to issue tickets they need to answer a couple of questions: 1, is there adequate parking now we have demolished the multistory, hideous as it was it did serve a purpose. 2, is there a dependable public transport system that serves Shrewsbury and its surrounding areas as far out to 30 or 40 miles. 3, Is the money that has been raised through this scheme going to be ploughed back into perfecting a public transport system that works, or provide a suitable alternative for people to park their cars in the surrounding areas. I think not, profits will obviously be ploughed back to shareholders of the company or lost in the councils ever increasing money pit.
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A friend of mine recieved a parking ticket outside the market hall whilst loading. I was stood by the car whilst the parkright man was trying to give her a ticket. He refused to acknowledge that we were loading and issued a ticket anyway. Was extremely arrogant to us, uncalled for and downright disgusting. This has gone too far, they are just in it for the money and not for keeping the area safe
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First, given that Andrew Finch is 42, I’d have thought that he might have learned a bit more about grammar, punctuation and spelling than he appears to have done.
Second, the parkright people are doing a job. If it’s considered that the laws/rules they are enforcing are unfair, then challenge the authorities.
Third, if Fred’s friend was parked illegally, what’s the problem? It seems that people only want the law enforced when it suits them.
Perhaps Andrew would like to provide his ideas for solutions to illegal parking. He may also like to ask the moderator for some help with grammar before posting.
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I think ParkRight wardens are doing a great job. They have to be fair to everybody. I am interested to know what job Andrew Finch has and what he classes as a real job. At the end of the day, at least the wrdens have a job and not sat at home doing nothing.
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