BROMSGROVE council has made a hefty £347,000 through parking tickets in the last three years, despite receiving less than half its issued penalty costs.

The shocking figures were revealed by a Freedom of Information request, sent by the Advertiser to Bromsgrove District Council, which also uncovered a list of the district’s parking ticket hotspots.

Worcester Road topped the chart, with 704 tickets being issued by wardens between June 2013 and March 2016, closely followed by The Stand in Bromsgrove town centre at 702.

Bromsgrove’s High Street came in 10th, with 269 fines issued.

But of the £705,000 worth of penalties dished out by council wardens over the three year period, less than half - £347,000 – has been paid in full.

A third of the 12,000 drivers fought their fines, and nearly half of them won – the most common reason being that they had displayed valid parking tickets in the first place.

A spokesman for Bromsgrove District Council said: “At face value these statistics might seem somewhat surprising. However, there are numerous reasons why this can happen and can be as simple as a pay and display ticket not being displayed where the officer could see or be able to read the details. Tickets can slip off dash boards, be obscured in some way, accidentally be put the wrong way round or in some cases the car owner just forgets to display it.

“We will always take a sensible approach to enforcement and on appeal, if someone can show that they had purchased a ticket we will of course always cancel the PCN.”

-

Bromsgrove's top 10 parking fine hotspots (tickets issued from June 1, 2013 to March 31, 2017)

1. Worcester Road, Bromsgrove - 704 fines issued

2. The Strand, Bromsgrove - 702 fines issued

3. Churchfields, Bromsgrove - 541 fines issued

4. Market Street, Bromsgrove - 458 fines issued

5. Hewell Road, Barnt Green - 408 fines issued

6. Worcester Road, Hagley - 330 fines issued

7. Recreation Road, Bromsgrove - 328 fines issued

8. Crown Close, Bromsgrove - 325 fines issued

9. Church Street, Bromsgrove - 324 fines issued

10. High Street, Bromsgrove - 269 fines issued