21 parking fines a day

Hartlepool Today
27th December 05

MORE than 20 people a day are caught parking illegally in Hartlepool.

New figures show 3,258 parking tickets have been issued in the six months since Hartlepool Borough Council took over the duty.
That means the council has netted almost £200,000 from parking fines and has nabbed 21 people a day flouting yellow line regulations.
Today a council spokesman said: "The message to motorists is simple - if you park legally then you won't be fined.''Bosses at Hartlepool Borough Council have revealed the latest figures for the number of drivers flouting the regulations.
It stands at 3,258 since July and between them motorists have amassed £195,480 in parking fines.
New figures show 779 motorists in Hartlepool were hit with £60 fines in September 2005 - the highest since the council took over the responsibility. But since then numbers have dropped slightly to 688 in October and 621 in November.
These figures still show a significant rise from when the council shared the duty with the police.Back in June, just 89 tickets were issued in the town - 20 by the police and 69 by the council.The council spokesman added: "The fact that the number of on-street fines has fallen in recent months suggests that people are heeding that message."
A full breakdown of the fines issued shows there were 450 in July, 720 in August, 779 in September , 688 in October and 621 in November.
Motorists stand to be fined £60 in the first instance although this is reduced to £30 if it is paid within 14 days. The fine increases to £90 if it hasn't been paid after 28 days.
All money received from fines and car parking charges is used to fund the parking service with any surplus invested in transport-related schemes.
The council was previously responsible for matters such as town centre parking, residential parking and business zones.
But since July, it has also been responsible for all yellow line parking offences, a duty previously carried out by the police traffic wardens.
The shift in power led to the work force doubling with 12 traffic wardens now patrolling the streets of Hartlepool.

Parking Santa''''s festive gifts

Express and Star

A good samaritan, named the Parking Ticket Santa, is giving Birmingham shoppers early Christmas presents by paying off their £30 parking tickets.
Motorists hit with fines in the city centre are finding Christmas cards alongside them on their windscreens.
Caroline Howard, of Walsall, peeled her fine notice off the window to find a card underneath with £30 inside.
A note inside read: "Don't let this ticket spoil your Christmas, here's £30 to pay it off. Merry Christmas."
The card was signed "Parking Ticket Santa" and was addressed to Christmas ticketing victim 14, suggesting 13 other people have also received the gift.
If that was the case the mystery benefactor would have shelled out £420 on other people's tickets so far.
Miss Howard, a 27-year-old sales assistant, said she was delighted to find the card on her silver Renault Megane which was parked near the Mailbox.
She said it was the first parking ticket she had received in seven years of driving and she had only been 15 minutes late in returning to her car in the city centre.
Her dismay was eased when she found the card along with a £20 and £10 note as she tore the ticket from her windscreen. She said: "At first I thought it was a joke and kept looking round for the person who left it there.
"When I couldn't see anyone I was shocked but really happy.
"I still can't believe it. It's such a generous thought and goes to show there are kind-hearted people in the world.
"Maybe Santa really does exist after all."
A spokesman for Control Plus, the company which dishes out tickets in the city centre, said it was not a generous traffic warden handing out the cash. The spokesman said: "I think it must be someone's idea of a joke, but I guess it must be a pleasant surprise for whoever got them."
Other shoppers parking in the city have been clueless as to the identity of the secret Santa.
Shopper Max Smith, 39, joked that he saw plenty of rosy-faced old men in Birmingham at this time of year. He said: "They have usually just fallen out of the pub.
"I have never seen any of them go home with the help of a reindeer, although I have seen some of them leave the pub with the odd moose."

£170 parking fines at Aldi

BIG brother-style cameras in a Hoddesdon car park are driving much needed shoppers out of town.
An unemployed man and a pensioner are among several victims who have pledged never to return to Aldi in Fawkon Walk after being slapped with £170 parking fines!
Several local shoppers have been hit by the extreme parking rules at the newly-opened store.
This week there were calls for the private firm operating the Aldi car park to be taken to task for their "exorbitant" charges and for the budget supermarket chain to rethink its parking regulations.
Jobless Andrew Wilson, 29, of Paddick Close, was fined for parking in Aldi late at night - when he just went to look through the store window!
And Enfield pensioner Josephine Ward was fined for being 30 minutes late back to her car, despite being INSIDE Aldi at the time spending £80 on shopping!
In separate cases, a disabled man and an elderly shopper were also given tickets - although Aldi bosses say they have now quashed their fines.
The car park is owned by Aldi and managed by north London-based Creative Car Park Management (CCPM).
Chairman of the Hoddesdon Town Centre Initiative, Kevin Brooks, said the charges were detrimental to enticing shoppers to Hoddesdon.
The car park allows 90 minutes' free parking providing motorists are visiting Aldi.
Cameras record the number plate of every car entering and leaving the car park and "overstaying" motorists are hunted down and fined by operators, Creative Car Park Management (CCPM).
Jobless Mr Wilson said: "I didn't know I had done anything wrong until a demand for £170 landed on the mat two weeks later.
"The car park was open, so I drove in for all of 15 minutes. I've had to borrow money from my parents to pay the fine."
Mrs Ward, 61, said: "I've paid the ticket because I'm worried bailiffs will come round if I don't.
"This was the first time I had ever been to Hoddesdon and I will never come back."
Broxbourne MP Charles Walker said he would be writing to the chief executive of Aldi.
After being contacted by the Mercury, Aldi area manager Steve Dear, said the firm would erect larger notices at the car park entrance to inform motorists of the rules.
"We don't make a penny from parking ourselves," said Mr Dear. "We don't want genuine shoppers to be put off and we will press CCPM to reimburse anyone who is wrongly fined."