Parents' anger at parking fines

Cambridge Evening News

ANGRY parents were drained of festive spirit after a parking attendant slapped tickets on their cars as they watched an end-of-school play which overran.
Parking restrictions outside Tannery Drift First School, in Tannery Drift, Royston, come into force for an hour at 11am on weekdays to stop commuters and shoppers from parking along the road.
In previous years, police traffic wardens would go into the school when they saw large numbers of cars parked outside during restricted periods, to ask if there was a function and ensure parents moved their vehicles.
But on Tuesday, when the play overran, parents were given no warning of the impending fines.
Without telling the school's reception, a parking attendant from North Hertfordshire District Council, which is now in charge of enforcing parking regulations in the town, placed parking tickets on several cars, just moments before the end of the play.
One angry dad said: "The parking attendant wasn't showing great Christmas spirit, was he?
"We are all very angry about what happened and many of us will appeal the tickets."
A mum said: "We were hardly in there any length of time."
A spokeswoman from the school said: "We were just as surprised as anyone else to see the parking attendant outside and we went and told the parents as quickly as possible.
"Unfortunately the play had overrun.
"There are parking restrictions and technically our parents were in the wrong. But even when they explained to the warden why they were there it was no good.
"In the past, when the police were in charge, they would always come and see if it was a school event."
Parents claimed as many as 16 cars were targeted but the council said, although 18 cars were illegally parked, just five were given tickets.
A spokesman from North Hertfordshire District Council said the attendants were responding to complaints from residents about lack of parking enforcement in Tannery Drift.
He said: "They found no less than 18 cars illegally parked.
"The attendants waited 15 minutes during which time some drivers, noticing their presence, came and moved their cars. It became clear most of these were parents attending the nativity play at Tannery Drift School. Thirteen cars were moved but five were not and these were duly and correctly ticketed.
"The council's parking attendants have acted correctly throughout and exercised discretion and leniency in applying the penalties."

Disabled driver's hospital fine

The Scotsman
JOANNA VALLELY

A PARKING attendant gave a ticket to a man collecting his elderly mother from hospital despite the car's disabled badge.
Jim Hughes, 59, was picking up his mother from NHS Lothian's Ear, Nose and Throat department at Lauriston Place, where she was receiving treatment.

He left the car on a paved area in front of the clinic as there were no free spaces close enough for his mum, who walks with a stick and was dizzy after treatment.
Today, the self-employed chauffeur and catalogue distributor said he was livid after receiving the £60 fixed penalty notice. He added that his mother, who turned 92 on the day he received the ticket, was also very upset.
The council said all blue badge holders were given details about where they can and can't park, so Mr Hughes should have known he was not allowed to park on pavements at any time.
Molly Hughes, who lives in Balerno, was receiving vacuum treatment for an ongoing ear problem. Her son said she had the treatment every six months and it had always left her slightly dizzy.
Mr Hughes, from Kirknewton, West Lothian, told the Evening News he had dropped his mother at the clinic and gone off to run some shopping errands for her.
When he returned there were no parking spaces so he left the car in the least obstructive place available so his elderly mum would not have far to walk.
He said he received the ticket at 12.37pm after leaving the car for 15 minutes on an extended paved area with the disabled badge clearly displayed.
He said: "I was livid. I wasn't blocking the exit or pedestrians. I only parked there because there was no room on the service road and it was the least obstructive place to get access as close as possible."
He said he pulled the car on to the pavement in front of Lauriston Building using an access point which was level with the road.
"I displayed the disabled badge and went to collect my mum from the first floor," he said. "She had had treatment and was dizzy.
"As we came out I saw a traffic attendant at my car but I couldn't leave my mother and by the time I got out there was a £60 penalty on the windscreen."
He said he immediately drove to council headquarters to appeal the ticket, which was marked "footpath parked".
He added: "My mother is all wound up saying, 'You should have let me get the bus'. She got quite upset about it.
"What a wonderful 92nd birthday present from the council."
The city's transport leader, Councillor Ricky Henderson, said it was impossible for parking attendants to know the reasons people parked where they did when they issued a ticket.
He said: "We know that there are times when drivers find it difficult to get a parking space.
"However, parking attendants have no way of knowing the background when a car is parked incorrectly.
"Blue badge holders are made aware of where they can and cannot park when they are given their badge.
"Drivers are encouraged to appeal if they feel that they did not deserve to get a ticket."

Fury at Riverside parking fines

Norwich Evening News
DOMINIC CHESSUM

Christmas shoppers at Riverside are being stung by huge parking fines - even though they are spending hundreds of pounds each at the retail park.
The hapless shoppers, who fail to realise there is a two hour free parking limit, are being caught out by a new number plate recognition system installed by the car park landlord three weeks ago.
Those who exceed their stay at the car park outside Big W are caught on camera and then a fine of £60 is automatically sent to their homes.
Although the system aims to catch our commuters and others who abuse the free parking, shoppers spending hundreds of pounds each in the run up to Christmas are now saying the free parking period should be reviewed.
Despite offering to show the car park operator, G24, the receipts to prove they were shopping at the park, the firm has insisted that they must still pay the fine, reminding shoppers if they pay within 14 days, the fined is reduced to £40.
Shoppers say they are disgusted and are calling for a fines amnesty for those who can prove they have been shopping at the retail park over the Christmas period.
Debbie Cowhiel, from Middleton Lane, Norwich, received a fine on December 3 after going shopping with her friend Sharon Fulcher on November 27.
She said: “I am livid about this. They will not let me off even though I have shown them the receipts.”
Sharon Fulcher spent more than £200 in the Riverside shops during the shopping trip.
She said: “We are angry because we were spending money in the shops.
“Having spent over £200 to get a £60 fine on top of that is really bad. I think they should waive the fines for shoppers over the Christmas period.”
Darren Wells, from Parson Road, Heartsease, also got fined after a shopping trip with his family. He is now fighting the charge and says some sort of ticket system would be a much better option.
He said: “We went round Currys, Outfit and Big W and then we had something to eat and fed the baby in the café there.
“We just did not realise there was a two hour limit.
“The next I knew we got a “civil traffic enforcement notice” in the post saying we had a fine and that a parking charge notice had been issue.
“There is no way you can get round the shops in two hours and the shops are going to loose their customers.”
Although the shops that rent out the units at the park have nothing to do with the parking situation, Big W is looking to get the situation changed.
A spokesman for the company said: “The decision to place a two hour parking limit was taken by the landlord of the Riverside Retail Park. This affects all retailers on the park. Woolworths does not agree with the policy and is doing everything it can to challenge it.”
A spokesman for the landlord of the car park said: “The landlord is now considering extending parking time on the car park now we have run a trial period and have noted reactions from locals regarding the system in place.
“There have been 83 cases where parking charges have been waived where reasons were justifiable or customers were close to the time limit.
“The system is lenient in that customers are given additional time to get back to their vehicles than that which is advertised.”

Row over yellow parking line at a hall

Surrey Online
19 Dec 06

AN UNHOLY row has broken out between churchmen and road bosses over parking restrictions outside a parish hall. Full story

Record 3.4m hit by parking fines

This is London
19.12.06

The number of parking tickets issued to motorists has quadrupled in five years, figures revealed. Full story

Trust forced to back off over parking charges

Hastings today
18 December 06

AN UNPOPULAR plan to charge staff to park at the Conquest hospital has been put on hold following an official complaint from workers Full story

Parking fines break £1million barrier

Evening Star 24
18 December 06

MORE than £1 million in parking fines have been handed out to errant motorists in Ipswich in just over a year. Full story

Court threat over parking 'tax'

Oxford Mail
By Giles Sheldrick

A group of Oxford residents is preparing to bring a High Court action against Oxfordshire County Council in the hope of ending a controversial paid-for parking scheme.
The Oxford group, which calls itself Residents Against the Parking Tax, is confident it can halt County Hall's policy of forcing people to pay for parking zone permits.
But there is one small snag - they need to find £50,000 to proceed. And the final bill, should the case end up in court, is likely to run into several hundred thousands of pounds.
Founding member Nicholas Fell, of Ash Grove, Headington, started the action after feeling "failed" by Oxford City Council, which, after seeking legal advice, said it could not afford to waste taxpayers' money on a courtroom showdown that would probably fail.
However, Mr Fell is confident businesses and disgruntled residents across the city will stump up the cash. He claimed the county council would use the revenue created by permit charges to keep annual council tax increases down.
He added: "We're going to get a consortium of businesses involved and then start a door-knocking campaign among residents.
"We hope to abolish parking charges in Northway, roll back the parking scheme in Headington and hopefully go from there.
"The city council has failed us, because they should have stood up in court. We want justice - it has to be done, and it has to be seen to be done. So far, I think it's an absolute miscarriage of justice."
He also argued the County Hall consultation exercise - in which 26,000 households were asked their views - was flawed.
Two thirds of the 5,000 respondents said they did not want to pay for annual permits, which will range from £40 for one vehicle to £120 for four.
Paid-for permits will affect homes in 26 zones across the city, starting with a rolling programme next year when zones come up for renewal. Mr Fell has contacted the Birmingham-based John Hughes Law Practice, specialists in this type of litigation.
Assistant solicitor Matthew Barrett said: "We have a steady trickle of people coming to us. Only in rare cases do people have funding for that kind of litigation - it's risky and expensive, but we are happy to give advice.
"Councils are realistic. What they are doing might not be universally popular, and if they have any sense they will dot all the I's and cross the T's. Finding a chink in their armour is difficult, so we have to advise clients of that frequently."
County councillor David Robertson, cabinet member for transport, said: "The policy (of charging for permits) had been determined under the (previous) coalition executive.
Our mind was not made up prior to the consultation."

War on motorists

Belfast Telegraph
By Jonathan McCambridge

Nearly £1m worth of parking fines have been handed out in Northern Ireland in less than one month - sparking accusations that war has been declared on motorists.
Currently more than 570 tickets are being issued every day by new private parking attendants who are blitzing illegally parked cars across the province.
The DRD took over responsibility for parking enforcement from police at the end of October. A private company, NCP, have been handing out £60 fines on their behalf since November 13.
By last Saturday the private attendants had issued 13,710 fines - an average of 571 tickets each day. That is more than 100% higher than the average daily number of tickets which had previously been issued by police.
The total number of tickets results in £822,600 worth of fines, although the £60 fee is reduced by half if the amount is paid within a fortnight.
Belfast has the highest number of parking fines, with more than 3,330 tickets issued in the city. There have been more than 1,070 tickets issued in Londonderry and 936 in Enniskillen.
Belfast Lord Mayor Pat McCarthy said he was worried that the high total of parking fines was harming business in the city in the run-up to Christmas. He has called a summit for the City Hall in January to discuss parking problems with the DRD and PSNI.
He said: "The explosion in the number of tickets issued does not add up. The figures speak for themselves and this will put people off coming into Belfast to shop before Christmas if they cannot park. Instead they will go to out-of-town shopping centres.
"There is a frustration among motorists about this because there has been such a sharp increase in the number of fines."
DUP MLA Ian Paisley Jnr said he was concerned that the number of tickets being issued was spiralling out of control.
He said: "This is clearly an attack on motorists, it is the Government waging war on our motorists. I am concerned because it seems that the word discretion has been removed from the vocabulary of the new parking attendants."
But the DRD has insisted that the upsurge in fines would lead to our roads being made safer.
Simon Richardson, DRD's road service parking enforcement manager, said: " Our aim is not to issue parking tickets, but to encourage people to park properly. This will improve road safety, improve traffic flows and accessibility for all roads users."

14,000
That's how many parking tickets have been issued to Ulster's motorists in ONE MONTH since privately employed traffic wardens replaced the PSNI
The Government was today accused of "waging war" on Northern Ireland's motorists after it emerged that a staggering 14,000 parking tickets have been handed out across the province in less than a month.
Since the DRD took over responsibility for parking enforcement from the PSNI, there has been a huge surge in the number of parking fines being slapped on motorists.
More than 570 £60 fines are being handed out for parking violations across the province every day.
More than 3,000 of the new £60 fines have been handed out in Belfast alone, with more than 1,000 in Londonderry.
A private company, NCP, is handling the enforcement of parking restrictions on behalf of the DRD.
The company work on October 30 and started handing out tickets on November 13.
In the period between then and December 9, 13,710 fines have been handed out across Northern Ireland.
The number of fines being issued has soared by more than 100% since the privately employed traffic wardens replaced the PSNI.
DUP MLA Ian Paisley Jnr said he was concerned that the number of tickets being issued was spiralling out of control.
He said: "This is clearly an attack on motorists, it is the Government waging war on our motorists.
"The number of tickets being handed out has soared, but it is not because there has been any deterioration in the way people park, just that they are being pursued much more vigorously.
"Many of these people are a soft target. They are law abiding people who are being targeted."
He added: "I am very concerned because it seems that the word discretion has been removed from the vocabulary of the new parking attendants."
However, the DRD has insisted that the upsurge in parking fines would improve road safety, improve traffic flows and improve accessibility for all roads users.
Simon Richardson, DRD's Road Service parking enforcement manager, said: " This total figure represents an average of 571 tickets per day across the whole of Northern Ireland.
"Our aim is not to issue parking tickets, our aim is to encourage drivers to park properly.
"If people park properly, we won't have to issue parking tickets. However, if people continue to park illegally, our attendants will issue penalty charge notices."
He added: "This new enforcement operation is good news for the law abiding motorist who adheres to the parking restrictions.
"However, for those people who refuse to comply with the regulations, our message is simple - park properly or pay the penalty."
Each parking ticket brings with it a fine of £60 although this is reduced to £30 if the fee is paid within a fortnight.
The new parking attendants have become a familiar sight in their red uniforms and hand-held computers in towns across Northern Ireland.
There has been criticism of NCP from some members of the emergency services who have claimed they have been issued with tickets while attending emergencies.
But Mr Richardson said: "DRD is working in partnership with NCP which is one of the leading parking companies in the UK.
"I am confident it is providing an efficient, high quality service across Northern Ireland.
"The performance targets within the contract are all based on the quality of the service provided and not on the number of tickets issued."
Mr Richardson continued: "Roads Service is continuing to work closely with NCP in all aspects of the contract to deliver our key objective for parking enforcement - namely to reduce the number of illegally parked vehicles on our streets.
"This will, in turn, improve road safety, improve traffic flows and improve accessibility for all roads users."

Council £800,000 fines blunder

Council gives in over ticket row
Evening Post
December 12, 2006
by Mary Vancura

Up to £800,000 has been paid to Carmarthenshire Council from parking tickets that have now officially been declared invalid.
It follows a successful appeal by a Carmarthenshire resident. Read the full story here

London to introduce country’s first city-wide two tier scheme for penalising illegal parking

London Councils
8th December 06

London Councils today, Friday, 8 December, approved the country’s first city-wide two tier parking penalties scheme based on the seriousness of the contravention that has been committed.
The move comes after an extensive consultation with the public, motoring and other interested organisations carried out by London Councils and Transport for London (TfL). It will come into effect from 1 July 2007.
More than 80 per cent of those who responded said that acts of illegal parking causing the most disruption, frustration and danger to other road users should be penalised more heavily than others.
From next July drivers parking at bus stops, on pedestrian crossings, or in the safety zones outside schools will receive a higher penalty than those overstaying at a parking meter or failing to display a valid ticket.
A £120 penalty will be applied to serious contraventions in central London, while lesser offences will attract a penalty of £80. In outer London the fines will be £100 and £60. All penalties will reduced by 50 per cent if paid within 14 days.
Currently, the penalties for all acts of illegal parking are £100 in central London and £80 in outer London. This new system will mean that motorists committing some parking contraventions will receive a £20 lower penalty then they currently do.
Chairman of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee Cllr Daniel Moylan said:
“Motorists parking illegally stop other road users from travelling smoothly and safely on London’s busy roads. Parking enforcement is carried out to ensure that people can enjoy a hassle and danger free journey.
“Striking the right balance between being firm and being fair has been a challenge for parking authorities. After listening to the views of the public, I believe we have come up with a scheme that meets both these objectives.
“Londoners feel it is unfair that a motorist returning a few minutes late to a parking meter should be penalised same as another causing a traffic jam by blocking a busy junction.
Motorists wrongly using bus lanes or committing moving traffic contraventions - including entering a box junction when their exits are blocked and going through a no entry sign - will receive a £120 penalty from next July.
Councillors also agreed that lorry company operators and drivers breaking the London Lorry Control Scheme will also receive £550 and £120 penalties respectively from July.

See a summary of the serious and less serious contraventions.
The decision on whether offences should be classified as more or less serious was based on the views expressed through the consultation.

See information on parking enforcement and the current levels of fines across London.
London Councils is committed to reviewing the levels of the capital’s parking penalties at regular intervals. It currently carries this out every four years.

It is the London Councils’ policy to set the levels at minimum to acts as a deterrent to illegal parking. The last time the charges were increased was on 1 April 2003.

During the summer London Councils and Transport for London (TfL) consulted with the public and a wide range of organisations including the AA, RAC, Transport for London, Metropolitan Police, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Road Haulage Association Limited, London Cycling Campaign, and Disabled Drivers Association. In total 113 responses were received.

The Mayor of London and the Secretary of State for Transport will now be consulted on the increases. If agreed they will be implemented from 1 July 2007.

However the current Band A charges will be introduced in the area around Wembley in Brent on 1 March 2007.

London Councils was formerly known as the Association of London Government. Our new name, effective from 1 October 2006, was chosen to reflect more accurately our membership. We are committed to fighting for more resources for London and getting the best possible deal for London’s 33 councils. We develop policy, lobby government and others, and run a range of services designed to make life better for Londoners.

For press enquires contact: Stewart Henderson on 020 7934 9620 Stewart.henderson@londoncouncils.gov.uk
Fax 020 7934 9769

For non-media enquiries contact: London Councils, 59½ Southwark Street, London SE1 0AL Tel 020 7934 9999
www.londoncouncils.gov.uk

Councils grab £10m from parking tickets

News Shopper
By Chris Johnson

OVER three years, Lewisham and Greenwich councils collectively issued more than 360,000 parking fines - netting the authorities nearly £10m.
Figures show from April 2003 to April this year, Lewisham Council gave out 192,693 tickets for parking offences, while Greenwich issued 169,794.
Of the fines issued in Lewisham, 104,135 were paid, making £3,800,000 - a 54 per cent collection rate.
In Greenwich, 93,672 of the fines were paid, generating £5,709,452 - a 55 per cent collection rate.
Council chiefs say it is impossible to calcuate the value of the uncollected fines.
This is because some of the unpaid fines could have been overturned at appeal.
Fines also vary depending on where they are handed out and how long motorists take to pay.
The money raised goes towards traffic- enforcement costs and road maintenance.
From the south east London boroughs, Bromley's 35 parking wardens made their council more money than Bexley, Lewisham and Greenwich.
Over the three years, Bromley Council issued 199,196 tickets, of which 151,388 were paid, generating £6,986,717.
Bexley's 25 wardens gave out 189,997 fines, of which 123,150 were paid, amassing £6,343,000.
Greenwich is looking to employ more wardens after recruitment problems led to 13,000 fewer fines being issued in the past financial year, compared to 2004/05.
News Shopper reported last week how Greenwich Council plans to recruit two more wardens to generate an extra £233,000 and issue 6,000 more tickets than last year's 49,000.
Chairman of transport watchdog London TravelWatch Brian Cooke said: "Councils should ensure collection rates improve. Ninety per cent would be a good target.
"They also need to exercise their discretion in issuing fines.
"Someone who overruns the meter by five minutes should not pay the same price as someone who parks on a red route."
11:23am Tuesday 12th December 2006

New enforcers hand out same old parking tickets

The Scotsman

City's new enforcers hand out same old parking tickets EDINBURGH motorists are still receiving parking tickets from the old Enforcers even though the work has transferred to a new firm. Drivers are being urged to challenge the fines on the technicality which arose because new operators NCP failed to get their wardens' handsets in time.

Turning the screw in car clone scam

The Scotsman
ALAN MCEWEN CRIME REPORTER
amcewen@edinburghnews.com
POLICE are hunting dozens of cars "cloned" by criminals which are being driven on the streets of the Capital.
The car cloners steal licence plates to attach to stolen cars leaving unsuspecting city motorists wrongly landed with speeding and parking fines.

Other cloned vehicles are being used in crimes such as housebreakings and robberies.
A special police squad has been tasked with tracking down the stolen cars as the scam becomes increasingly popular in Edinburgh.
Police estimate that 30 such vehicles are on the roads on any given day. Now officers are leading a crackdown by providing motorists with tamper-proof screws which make the plates impossible to steal.
They plan to hand out hundreds of the screws to drivers at shopping centres over this weekend in a bid to combat the crooks.
More than 40 licence plates have been stolen every month since the start of this year with the majority being used to commit offences. Criminals avoid paying parking and speeding fines and drive off from petrol stations without paying for fuel.
Sergeant Mark Patterson, of the force's road policing branch, said:
"The DVLA produce licence plates which are designed to snap into pieces if they are removed but they cost £50 instead of the £14 for ordinary plates. We are offering to replace ordinary screws with tamper-proof clutch screws which cannot be removed again. They will foil the thieves who go around with Phillips screwdrivers looking to steal plates."
Officers fitted new screws to 80 vehicles at the Fort Kinnaird and Gyle shopping complexes last weekend.
Sgt Patterson wants hundreds of motorists to take advantage of the free offer this weekend to help protect their cars. The team of officers will be Cameron Toll shopping centre on Saturday between noon and 6pm, and at the Craigleith complex at the same times on Sunday.
Sgt Patterson added: "These screws are a simple and cost-effective way to frustrate opportunist thieves. Car cloning is on the rise and drivers should be looking to frustrate these criminals."
The screws usually sell for only 40p each but the police hope their offer to fit them will encourage drivers to take up the offer.
AA policy chief Neil Greig said: "This [car cloning] is a growing issue for motorists. We recommend that if ever you see that your registration plate is missing you should not assume that it is has just fallen off - you should assume it is stolen and contact the police.
"They'll then have a record of the plate being stolen and it will be easier to prove it is not you."
In 2004, a total of 256 registration plates were reported stolen in Lothian and Borders. However, that rose to 406 last year, and had already topped 400 by the start of October.
The rise in licence-plate thefts has been blamed on suppliers tightening their procedures and making it more difficult for criminals to obtain duplicates.

Last updated: 08-Dec-06

Parking charges to rise

Bucks Free Press
By Paul Leat

MOTORISTS will have to fork out a lot extra for parking in High Wycombe from the start of the New Year.
Pay and display fees on street bays in the Special Parking Area will increase from 50p to £1 per half-an-hour in the most central roads, and from 40p to 50p in the outer roads from January 1.
Parking permits for people with no off-street parking outside their homes will see the price they pay rise from £25 to £40.
The price will then be hiked up again to £45 later in the year and then again to £52 in 2008.
But anyone with a second or third car will have to pay the full £52 now for their extra permits.
Buckinghamshire County Council said the price hikes were needed because the fees had not been changed for several years and the current charge does not reflect the price it costs to issue the permit.

The price rises were supposed to start in October, with permit holders expected to immediately pay the massive jump to £52.
But after a mass outcry from motorists, Councillor Val Letheren, county council cabinet member for transportation, called the decision back and toned it down to phase in the price rises. The start date was also moved back to January.
Cllr Letheren said the council was writing to every permit holder to tell them about the changes.
She added: "We have tried to soften it for people and bring the rises in by stages."
2:53pm Wednesday 6th December 2006

Council owed £11million by fine dodgers

Hornsey and Crouch End Journal
06th December 06

HARINGEY Council is chasing nearly £11million in unpaid traffic and parking fines - with the top offender having racked up a debt of over £8,000 in nine months.
The massive debt - revealed in a Freedom of Information request by the Journal, is £10,921,000 - equivalent to the level of budget cuts the council needs to make over the next three years.
The current collection rate of 61 per cent suggests that millions of pounds in fines will never be recovered.
The top offender, from Wood Green, owes £8,085 after racking up 71 penalty charge notices since the end of February.
Simon Aldridge, director of London Motorists Action Group and resident of Christchurch Road, Crouch End, said: "It is a waste of taxpayer's money even issuing a ticket if it not going to be paid. You would think in this world of modern technology that people would not be able to get away with not paying parking tickets.
A Haringey Council spokesman said: "Vehicles showing the largest debts are frequently found to be registered to people who have since moved from the address where the vehicle is registered, or to those who evade paying parking fines and other matters by registering their vehicles at false addresses. Unpaid debts are passed to bailiffs who try to recover the money on our behalf.

Council owed £11million by fine dodgers

Hornsey and Crouch End Journal

HARINGEY Council is chasing nearly £11million in unpaid traffic and parking fines - with the top offender having racked up a debt of over £8,000 in nine months. Full story

Council cash bid targets motorists

News Shopper
By Chris Johnson

MOTORISTS are more likely to be hit with parking fines after town hall chiefs announced they are looking for more traffic wardens.
Last week, News Shopper reported how Greenwich Council is trying to increase its income as part of plans to save £25m over the next four years.
Highways chiefs have identified six parking zones where they estimate £233,000 per year can be made by increasing traffic wardens to dish out 55,000 tickets - 6,000 more than than last year.

As well as targeting these six zones, the council also wants more wardens patrolling the streets after encountering recruitment problems in recent years.
This year there are plans to recruit two more wardens to add to the current 23.
A spokesman said: "Greenwich issues a relatively low number of penalties compared with some more inner London boroughs.
"In the last couple of years, there have been problems in recruiting parking attendants and the number of penalties issued has reduced as a result.
"That problem is now being corrected and this figure (of £233,000) represents the expected income from additional penalties issued by the attendants."
But critics have expressed alarm the council is openly admitting to using parking fines as a way to generate cash.
Greenwich Society spokesman Ray Smith said: "If people break parking laws then, yes, they should pay a fine.
"But I find the concept of target-driven cash generation a little difficult to understand.
"I thought revenue from parking fines is based on how many people flout the rules, so how can the council guess how much money it can make in advance?"

WHERE TO WATCH OUT
The six zones identified and how much is expected to be made in parking fines:
Charlton Westcombe Park: £70k
Outside zones: £13k
Eltham Station: £40k
Woolwich on street: £30k
Plumstead Station: £10k
Greenwich controlled parking zone: £20k
10:23am Monday 4th December 2006