Motorists score a record £117,000 in parking fines in just over a year

A MOTORIST has racked up more than £117,000 in parking fines in just over a year.

The renegade Honda driver received 588 tickets between December 2020 and March 2022.

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It equates to almost £200 per ticket – with increasing penalties if not paid immediately.

The fines – believed to be a UK record – were logged in north London by Islington Council, which said it would pursue the driver for payment.

They were the costliest collection of fines for a single driver for violating traffic rules over the past year, according to figures released by the councils.

In posh Kensington and Chelsea, west London, a Ford Transit van was ticketed more than 400 times while parked in exclusive Cadogan Square last year – but all were paid for.

It is believed the £51,120 bill may have been accumulated by a builder on the pitch – whilst passing the cost on to his wealthy clients as part of their bill.

Many of the worst offenders were in London, but drivers accumulated large numbers of fines elsewhere.

In Gateshead, the driver of a BMW 701 was fined £32,926 over three years before bailiffs impounded the car.

Officials in Birmingham revealed a driver had collected £31,739 worth of tickets, while one in Nottingham had been fined £22,200.

In Brighton & Hove, a driver bought 256 unpaid train tickets worth £17,400 in just one year.

Bath and North East Somerset Council said they impounded a vehicle and sold it at auction to try to clear a £14,695 debt from 129 tickets.

Wakefield Council in West Yorkshire did the same with a Ford Focus to settle a £13,609 debt from 121 tickets.

The AA’s Jack Cousens said: “It is clearly unacceptable behavior and will ultimately impact law-abiding motorists as councils seek to increase the parking fees we all pay to cover these administrative costs.

“A driver who misses a ticket or two can reasonably argue they were unaware of the charges, but these show evasion on an industrial scale.”