23 September 2013
5 Mins read

Drivers Being Hit With More Parking Tickets, New Data Finds

Car Lease with Parking Ticket

New data revealed that councils make £30 million in revenue from parking charges from 890,000 tickets issued every month.

More than £30 million a month is paid in parking fines by British motorists, new data obtained from a car lease insurance firm finds.

According to Freedom of Information data obtained by LV= car insurance, an average of 890,000 fines a month have been handed out by councils so far this year, which represents a climb of 4% on the figures recorded in 2012.

This indicates that, with parking penalties dished out by local authorities averaging £42 a ticket, motorists could be shelling out more than £30 million in combined parking fines every month.

An increasing number of people in Britain are being slapped with parking fines. On a daily basis, councils throughout the UK are issuing an average of 162 parking tickets, which is up on the 154 typically handed out each day in 2012.

John O’Roarke, managing director at LV= car insurance, said: “Parking rules vary in each council area and it is easy to get caught out when you don’t know the restrictions. Getting a ticket can be very expensive and often take months to reverse.”

He added that drivers who are unsure of whether or not they are abiding by the regulations should be sure to read through the signs explaining parking restrictions. If they are still not 100% confident they are parking legally, O’Roarke said the answer is simple – park somewhere else.

Additionally, the information revealed a significant climb in the number of tickets being dished out on a Sunday. Between January and May this year, it was shown that parking wardens issued more than 284,000 tickets on this day of the week – a 13% increase on the amount recorded over the same period one year earlier.

Furthermore, it was revealed that parking wardens are being kept the busiest in the City of Westminster, where they are typically giving out 1,269 fines every day. Other busy areas were found to be Birmingham and Bristol, with the least busy being Moray in Scotland.

The vice-chairman of the Local Government Authority David Sparks has responded to the report, stating that evidence claiming revenue raised from parking fines across the UK totals £30 million each month is “inaccurate”. He went on to say that any money raised from parking fines had to go directly back into “transport initiatives”.

While we all hate getting a parking ticket, it’s easy to love the prospect of getting a brand new car for a fraction of the buying price, and that’s exactly what you get with a new car lease from cars2buy. You get to drive a brand-new model of your choice for the best years of its life, and simply pay a monthly fee and return it at the end of the contract. Our crystal-clear service aggregates thousands of lease deals from verified and trusted partners, making it easier and quicker than ever before to search through and find the lease of your dreams. Browse the immaculate cars2buy selection of lease deals today.

Car Leasing Comparison – All The Best Deals | cars2buy