Parking fine hot spots in Newbury revealed

Data shows that less than a third of drivers appealed their fines last year

WEST Berkshire Council generated £268,387 last year in parking charge fines.

A freedom of information request from the Newbury Weekly News showed that 9,299 parking charge notices were issued by the local authority between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017.

Out of these, less than a third of drivers (2,607) decided to appeal their fines.

The average fine paid for a parking charge notice over this period was £33.58.

Traffic wardens caught most drivers out on Northbrook Street, followed by the Market Street car park.

Central car park near the KFC roundabout recorded the third highest number of parking tickets.

This year, the local authority collected £56,094 in car parking charges over a period of three months, from March 1 to May 31.

As well as Market Street car park and Central car park, Pelican Lane car park also featured as a recent hotspot for parking notices.

The council said that producing a valid blue badge or a valid pay and display ticket were the main reasons for successful appeals.

‘General reasons’ – which encompass the array of individual reasons motorists submit as their ground of appeal, was also a way of overturning a parking ticket at the local authority’s discretion.