Falkirk street named as top spot for parking charges

A study has unveiled how much money Falkirk Council made from issuing parking charge notices over a 12-month period.
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The local authority raked in almost £200,000 between August 2019 and July 2020 after handing out 5921 fines, figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request have revealed.

Total revenue for that time period stood at £199,777, with an average of 16.2 penalties dished out in Falkirk district each day.

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The cost of an average fine during this time frame was £33.74.

Falkirk Council issued almost 6000 parking charges notices between August 2019 and July 2020. Picture: Michael Gillen.Falkirk Council issued almost 6000 parking charges notices between August 2019 and July 2020. Picture: Michael Gillen.
Falkirk Council issued almost 6000 parking charges notices between August 2019 and July 2020. Picture: Michael Gillen.

The research, carried out by Compare the Market, also revealed Manor Street in Falkirk as the location where the highest number of parking charges were issued in the region.

Falkirk Council launched a decriminalised parking enforcement scheme in 2018 in which parking attendants were given authority to give fines to drivers who ignore waiting, loading or parking restrictions.

A spokesman said: “Inconsiderate parking is dangerous and causes problems for other road users and pedestrians.

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“The money raised from fines is reinvested in parking, roads and transport infrastructure, as well as providing the parking enforcement service.

“We have seen an increase in the fines collected following the introduction of the parking attendant scheme in November 2018.”

The comparethemarket.com survey received responses from 204 UK councils.

The data showed local authorities raked in £850,000, on average, in revenue from parking fines between August 2019 and July last year.

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London Borough of Newham proved to be the parking fine capital of Britain, with 239,000 issued – coining in £10 million.

Nine of the ten local authorities taking in the most cash were in Greater London, with each council collecting more than £4m in revenue in fines each year.

The 104,938 parking charges dished out by Glasgow City Council made it the local authority most likely to issue a ticket outside of Greater London and Birmingham.

Dan Hutson, head of motor at comparethemarket.com, said: “Parking fine revenues are a cash cow for many local authorities.

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“Up and down the country drivers are regularly being caught out by tight parking restrictions.

“With the third lockdown now in place, we would encourage drivers to take extra care and attention when parking up their car to ensure they avoid a parking fine.”

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