DRIVERS flouting parking restrictions in York have racked up £1.4 million in fines over the last three years.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by The Press found 11,862 people have been fined since 2012 by City of York Council for stopping in designated zones without a valid parking ticket or permit.

One political party has vowed to quiz the council about the fines after the authority received £503,751 in Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) in 2014 and accrued £86,043 in the first two months of this year from 721 tickets.

The £1,459,050 paid to the council's parking office has been collected in a mere 38 months from £70 or £50 Penalty Charge Notices, which are halved if paid within 14 days.

Parking permits are available to anyone living within the authority's Respark zones, but comes at cost, depending on the location and size of properties.

The permits are available to residents, their visitors and local businesses to park within a particular zone, however, only one is valid in each zone.

Cllr Keith Aspden, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group at City of York Council, told The Press he will be asking questions of the council after viewing the figures.

He said: "The council does need to ensure that parking rules are properly enforced and Respark zones remain for permit holders.

"However, we also need to make sure that the council is not using the fines as a stealth-tax and that where possible any surplus is put back into services, such as improving buses and reducing overall parking charges.

"This is a particularly important given the Labour-Green plans to further increase parking fees for residents.

"We will be asking officers questions as to why the numbers fined are so high and what the fine income has been spent on since 2012."

Money from the fines is ringfenced for transport and road projects, such as repairing highways and fixing potholes in York's roads.

A spokesman for the AA said: "£1.4 million is a staggering amount of money that drivers in York will be hard pressed to grasp.

"The big question is whether money has been received to deter drivers from parking badly and being selfish to other road users or the council has seen this as a way to prop up their coffers."

Graham Titchener, head of Parking Services at City of York Council, said: "Our parking fines and enforcement are in line with Government guidance and our signage is clear regarding required permits and times.

"We expect all drivers to adhere to it and numbers of PCNs issued in York have been consistent year-on-year.

"Parking fines and car park revenue are ringfenced to support the council’s parking services and highways expenditure."


Breakdown of figures:

In 2012, 3,251 people were fined by City of York Council and £410,854 was received.

The following year, 4,050 drivers were given a ticket and £458,402 was collected.

Last year, the figure dropped slightly to 3,840 tickets but the council received £503,751.

And up until the end of February this year, 721 people had been fined, totalling £86,043.