Leamington parking fine hotspots revealed

THE top ten streets in Leamington where drivers are likely to receive a parking fine have been revealed – with one road alone netting £23,000 for Warwickshire County Council in a year.

The most ticketed roads are mainly in the town centre where on-street parking spaces are scarce – and usually limited to an hour or less.

At the top of the list is Newbold Terrace.

A whopping 905 tickets were tucked under windscreen wipers by traffic wardens between August 2011 and July 2012, bringing in £23,091 for the council.

With Warwickshire Justice Centre, the Spa Centre and Jephson Gardens all within walking distance, the street has pay and display meters with tickets handed out to anyone who leaves their vehicle too long.

Regent Street and Regent Grove came second and third in the list where a total of 1512 tickets were handed out for a combined value of £40,360.

And although fewer tickets were awarded to people leaving their cars too long in Regent Street (836), the council received a staggering £23,770 in penalty fines.

This is due to the fact the size of the fine increases if there is a delay in payment.

Warwick Street and Hamilton Terrace completed the top five hot spots with 654 and 451 being issued respectively for a combined value of more than £29,000.

The league table has been issued to the Observer by the district council following a Freedom of Information request.

The figures reveal that in the last year Warwickshire County Council has brought in £141,995 from parking fines in the top ten streets.

And drivers in Regent Street were surprised by the huge figures.

A spokesman for Warwick District Council, which enforces the parking rules on behalf of the highways authority Warwickshire County Council, said the money generated from parking fines was used to fund the council's parking services with any surplus going towards transport and environmental schemes.

Ashley Ling, 40, a hairdresser from Cubbington, said: "I think that's a horrendous amount of money. There's not enough parking as it is and too many loading bays. Can we use all this money to perhaps get another new car park?"

Damian Descarfo, 31, who lives just outside the town centre, said: "I live close enough to walk but on the occasion that I do come in my car, I want know I can park somewhere for 20 minutes or so."

Owner of Landsdowne Laundrette, Rob Malle, was fuming having been slapped with a fine recently.

He said: "I think its absolutely disgusting. It affects businesses like ours immensely. I recently got a ticket when I came back to the shop having delivered some laundry to a customer and although I appealed it, they (WDC) said because I had returned to the street within an hour, there were no grounds for appeal."

The 51-year-old said he was considering starting a petition.

He added: "The guy who owns a business up the road has collected three tickets in the last six months. You can't run a business like that, its just not feasible."

And student Lauren Blake, 24, urged for 15 minutes free parking to be brought back.

She said: "Most people only want to do a few little jobs and 15 minutes free parking was ideal but then they took it away. There should also be machines that give change as people often don't have the exact money on them."

In response to the £141,000 she said: "No wonder there's a decrease in the amount people are spending on the high street when it costs you a fortune just to get there."

The full list is as follows:

1. Newbold Terrace 905 tickets £23,091.42

2. Regent Street 836 £23,770.00

3. Regent Grove 676 £16,590.33

4. Warwick Street 654 £17,345.00

5. Hamilton Terrace 451 £12,500.44

6. Bedford Street 386 £10,821.00

7. Tavistock Street 378 £11,502.06

8. Euston Place 371 £8,478.19

9. Park Street 345 £9,665.00

10. Clarendon Avenue 261 £8,232.00

“Not enough parking”- Ashley Ling from Cubbington is in favour of new car parks. 37.012.020.leam.nc1

“Close enough to walk” - Damian Descarfo, 31, discusses parking charges. 37.012.020.leam.nc4

Business owner Rob Malle is disgusted by the council’s parking fees. 37.012.020.leam.nc2

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