Drivers paid record £620m in council parking fines last year, with over 1,000 tickets issued every hour

DRIVERS paid a record £620million in council parking fines last year — with more than 1,000 tickets dished out every hour, figures show.

With an average penalty fee of £60, the stats indicate more than ten million tickets were issued.

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Driver paid a record £620million in council parking fines last year — with more than 1,000 tickets being issued every hour, according to new figures[/caption]

The 2023/24 total is a six per cent rise on the previous year.

Lambeth Council in South London had the highest revenue with £52.4million.

Brighton & Hove had the highest for a non-London council with £12.2million.

But the true total will be much higher as 42 of the 377 local authorities submitted their numbers too late to be included in the official analysis.

Cash raised from the fines goes towards running parking services.

Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Portsmouth were all in the top ten of councils outside of the capital for the amount brought in from parking ticket fines.

Cllr Adam Hug, transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “Motorists can avoid fines by ensuring they observe parking and traffic rules that are only there to help all drivers get around and find parking safely, smoothly and fairly.

“Money raised from fines and on-street charges is used for running parking services, with any surplus spent on essential transport improvements, including fixing the £16.3 billion road repairs backlog, reducing congestion, tackling poor air quality and supporting local bus services.

“Beyond this, any surplus also contributes towards vital services such as cleaning our streets and improving them so they are fit for the future.

“If any motorist believes they have been fined unfairly, then they have the right to appeal against it.”