Parking fines reach over £4m
Your Local Guardian
By Guardian Reporter
A street-by-street probe into parking fines has revealed that Sutton handed out 52,111 penalty charge notices (PCN) last year worth a whopping £4,168,880.
Sutton's parking hotspot roads include Sutton High Street, where 1,204 PCNs were handed out at a value of £96,320 and Mulgrave Road, where motorists were slapped with £63,280 in fines.
Car parks also brought in a share of the total with Stone Place car park handing out 4,194 tickets worth £335,520 and Wallington Library car park clocking up tickets worth £108,880.
Andrew Davis, director of the Environmental Transport Agency, said: "The difficulty is the space these cars use is effectively real estate and it has an enormous value.
"We would say that as long as the system is fair and the information is clear to the user then the regime has to be there."
But motoring activists warn that the situation is getting out of control.
Tom Conti, co-founder of the London Motorist's Action Group, said: "There is a spirit of entrapment when it comes to parking tickets."
Barrie Segal, campaigner and founder of Appeal Now, said: "The main problem is there is not a motorist out there who believes these tickets are issued for the benefit of keeping the streets clear."
The PCNs are issued by both parking attendants and traffic enforcement cameras.
A council spokesman said: "Enforcement of traffic regulations in the borough is contracted out to NCP.
"The council aims through traffic enforcement to improve road safety, maintain and improve the flow of traffic and relieve congestion. We support and promote the use of public transport and other sustainable transport and work towards better facilities for disabled people, pedestrians and cyclists.
"We continually review all parking provisions in Sutton to ensure they are meeting current requirements. All income received from penalty charge notices is fed back into improving parking and public transport, such as new parking schemes, maintenance of car parks and subsidising public transport."
Sutton came second to last out of the 17 London boroughs listed in a survey commissioned by Channel 4.
Totals for the borough showed a reduction of £47,200 from the previous financial year.
The figures are based on the total value of tickets handed out in each street, at £80 and £100 face value.
Those receiving fines pay £40 or £50 if they return payment within 14 days.
By Guardian Reporter
A street-by-street probe into parking fines has revealed that Sutton handed out 52,111 penalty charge notices (PCN) last year worth a whopping £4,168,880.
Sutton's parking hotspot roads include Sutton High Street, where 1,204 PCNs were handed out at a value of £96,320 and Mulgrave Road, where motorists were slapped with £63,280 in fines.
Car parks also brought in a share of the total with Stone Place car park handing out 4,194 tickets worth £335,520 and Wallington Library car park clocking up tickets worth £108,880.
Andrew Davis, director of the Environmental Transport Agency, said: "The difficulty is the space these cars use is effectively real estate and it has an enormous value.
"We would say that as long as the system is fair and the information is clear to the user then the regime has to be there."
But motoring activists warn that the situation is getting out of control.
Tom Conti, co-founder of the London Motorist's Action Group, said: "There is a spirit of entrapment when it comes to parking tickets."
Barrie Segal, campaigner and founder of Appeal Now, said: "The main problem is there is not a motorist out there who believes these tickets are issued for the benefit of keeping the streets clear."
The PCNs are issued by both parking attendants and traffic enforcement cameras.
A council spokesman said: "Enforcement of traffic regulations in the borough is contracted out to NCP.
"The council aims through traffic enforcement to improve road safety, maintain and improve the flow of traffic and relieve congestion. We support and promote the use of public transport and other sustainable transport and work towards better facilities for disabled people, pedestrians and cyclists.
"We continually review all parking provisions in Sutton to ensure they are meeting current requirements. All income received from penalty charge notices is fed back into improving parking and public transport, such as new parking schemes, maintenance of car parks and subsidising public transport."
Sutton came second to last out of the 17 London boroughs listed in a survey commissioned by Channel 4.
Totals for the borough showed a reduction of £47,200 from the previous financial year.
The figures are based on the total value of tickets handed out in each street, at £80 and £100 face value.
Those receiving fines pay £40 or £50 if they return payment within 14 days.
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