Parking penalties

There is no contest when it comes to handing out parking tickets – the Lon­don borough of Westminster is streets ahead. The authority slapped 702,116 fixed penalty notices (FPN) on vehicles during 2005/2006. No other area, even within the capital, comes close.

Across the UK, Birmingham – with 175,000 tickets – Brighton (168,000), Manchester (136,000) and Liverpool (110,000) are among the parking fine high-fliers. But the penalties they dish out are dwarfed by Westminster’s.

Yet despite the sky-high figure, the amount of FPNs issued in the borough has dropped significantly over the past three years. In 2003/2004, close to one million were issued (998,346), and the following year the tally was 817,596.

Changes made to the parking system in Westminster include the scrapping of a scheme in March 2004 that saw wardens given targets and incentives for fines. Councillor Danny Chalkley claimed the borough was now being fairer. “We’re working to get this right,” he said. The National Parking Adjudic­ation Service (NPAS) provides helpful advice on avoiding being caught at its www.parking-appeals.gov.uk website. Simple checks – such as ensuring bays are not suspended and removing old car park tickets from your windscreen – could end up saving you a fortune!