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 its 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: "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.

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

In Telford & Wrekin the amount of fines collected in council-run car parks has also increased 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.