COVENTRY City Council has raked in nearly £3million in parking tickets in the past four years - but is yet to make any profit from the fines.
All the money has gone to pay for set-up costs and officers’ wages since the council took over parking enforcement from police in 2005.
Figures obtained by the Times show that in this time the number of tickets being issued to motorists has increased from 21,533 (2005/06) to 28,018 (April 2008 to February 2009.)
During the first three years of taking over the service, the council ran up a debt of £437,000 - which a leading councillor warns could take another three years to pay off.
The full £2,838,801 raised from parking fines since 2005 has gone into funding set-up costs of the scheme - paying for offices, computers, equipment and the wages of 16 civil enforcement officers.
Councillor Hazel Noonan, cabinet member for city services, said the money raised from the fines was being swallowed up by the cost of running the scheme.
She said: “The increase in tickets being issued has been slow but it has gone up in the last few months, which is due to our officers being more efficient.
“All the money from these fines goes back into the parking services - towards the running of the service, wages of the officers and other staff who work in the department.
“There is no surplus at the moment, it is just about paying for itself. But the benefit is that we are making our roads safer for vehicles and pedestrians around the city.
“Yellow lines and parking enforcements are there for a reason - to keep the roads safe. It is the council’s responsibility to make sure that it is kept safe and if drivers choose to park where there are restrictions, our officers will issue tickets.”
The charge for tickets also increased last year from £60 to £70 for more serious offences, such as parking on yellow lines or parking in a permit space without a valid permit.
This charge is reduced to £35 if the fine is paid for within 14 days of it being issued.
Of all parking tickets issued since April 2008, 70 per cent of them were for more serious offences at £70 a ticket.
Around 70 per cent of all parking tickets were paid in full, with 56 per cent being paid at the discounted level.
About 10 per cent of all parking tickets issued are referred to bailiffs.
But despite a rise in the number of parking tickets issued, Cllr Noonan said it could take a few years before the council makes any profit from the fines.
She said: “The tickets income is so far this year predicted to pay its own way and will go towards paying off some of that debt. It could even take another two or three years before we can pay it all off.”
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