Parking fines soar by £20m after tighter controls

MOTORISTS have been hit by record parking fines after nearly two thirds of councils brought in new restrictions.

Drivers were issued with £254.9million in fines last year – equivalent to £55,000 a day and up by 6 per cent on the £234.6 million in the previous year.

It came as 63 per cent of councils increased the number of roads that had parking restrictions in place.

It now means 80,200 roads – about a tenth of the total – have some form of restriction on them, an increase of 1,200 on 2020. Nearly a third (29 per cent) of councils also implemented new resident parking permit controls in 2021.

The figures, obtained by Churchill Motor Insurance, are likely to anger families hit by the rising costs as they see councils boosting revenue through parking charges.

Nicholas Mantel, head of Churchill, said: “It is becoming increasingly difficult to find spots to park, especially for free, as local authorities seek to reduce congestion and put ever more controls in place.”

More than 5.2million penalty charge notices were issued across Britain, which equate to 10 parking fines every minute, up 8 per cent on 2020.