Parking fines wipe-out costs Coventry over £300k - The Coventry Observer

Parking fines wipe-out costs Coventry over £300k

Coventry Editorial 13th Sep, 2020 Updated: 17th Sep, 2020   0

A COLLAPSE in the number of parking fines issued by Coventry City Council has cost the council over £300,000.

Plummeting levels of traffic during the coronavirus lockdown period meant that year-on-year levels of fines issued, called PCN’s, dropped by 94 per cent.

The figures, revealed in Freedom of Information data, suggest lack of motorists to fine for parking infringements has hit council coffers.

Traffic wardens left without anyone to fine were ‘redeployed’ to other local authority jobs, the council said.




Data obtained by car lease compare site Leasefetcher showed local authorities across the UK were down by over £8 million on expected PCN income.

“Nobody likes a parking ticket, and if anything good has come of lockdown, it’s that motorists have saved a staggering amount of cash on PCNs,” Will Craig, Founder of LeaseFetcher said. “It’s not so good for the councils, but they are already starting to claw their way back up to pre-lockdown income levels now that restrictions have eased.”


A spokeswoman for Coventry City Council said: “The city’s traffic wardens are employed by Coventry Council.

“The parking enforcement operation was scaled down in April. In line with national guidelines the traffic wardens focused primarily on dangerous and obstructive parking. Enforcement levels have gradually increased since the beginning of June.

“There hasn’t been a change in staff levels since April. Some staff members have been ‘shielding’ during this time and some others were temporarily redeployed to support other council services.”

Coventry Council allowed visitors to the city centre to benefit from free parking, but added that there are no plans to reintroduce it.

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