One local council has issued 50 percent more parking tickets in a year but says it is the result of increased traffic rather than more vigilant traffic wardens.
Almost 50,000 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued by Buckinghamshire Council in 2023, a rise of more than 50 percent on the 31,851 it issued in 2022.
According to the figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) under the Freedom of Information Act, the council raised more than £1.4m in funds as a result of the increase in fines.
However, council bosses denied parking tickets were being used as a cash cow, claiming they were combating problematic parking which was negatively affecting homes and businesses as traffic increased.
It said the money raised had been invested into transport, parking and environmental services.
Steven Broadbent, Buckinghamshire Council’s cabinet member for transport, told the LDRS: “This is purely down to the number of contraventions and is not something the council controls or that is linked to our budgets.
“We have continued to see traffic levels increase year-on-year which in turn impacts on the number of parking violations that occur.
“We are a very large county area with an extensive road network, high population, high road usage and a number of busy towns so we will naturally see higher numbers of parking violations.”
Just yesterday, the council was forced to deny the area required more parking infrastructure.
One resident living in Marlow, which is situated within the council’s boundary, told the Bucks Free Press that the area was becoming a “motorist jungle” with a lack of adequate parking facilities.
Resident Colin McCulloch told the paper: “My principal concern is the motorised jungle of our high street. Councillors seem to care little about the congestion, pollution and parking problems.”
