Thought you’d got away with that f ine?

TENS of thousands of people have been hit with fines and demands up to a decade old for long-forgotten offences such as parking tickets and non-payment of TV licences – after Ministers launched a hunt to track them down.

Westminster’s Ministry of Justice is using databases held by other government departments and online tracing tools to locate people, even if they have moved home.

Around £9 million has already been clawed back for the taxpayer. But the campaign has left many people bewildered about receiving the fines after such a long time. Some have complained they are innocent but are unable to prove it now so many years have passed.

Others, believing the letters to be a scam, have ignored them and been hit with charges from bailiffs and threats of court action. The letters do not state what the original offence was – recipients are only able to find out by contacting a court.

Mark Thornton, 46, of Kilburn, North London, received an official letter demanding £183. He said: ‘It didn’t actually say what the fine was for but eventually we were told it was for an untaxed vehicle. My wife and I were living in Switzerland in 2010, when it was supposed to have occurred. But we didn’t have the paperwork any more and we didn’t want to rack up more fees so we just paid it.’

A Courts and Tribunals Service spokesman said: ‘Anyone who believes that they have been wrongly contacted can appeal.’