MOTORISTS across Malvern have paid out more than £100,000 in penalty charge notice (PCN) fines in the past two years, new figures have revealed.
According to a Freedom of Information Act request (FOI) from Confused.com, Malvern Hills District Council pocketed £55,559.27 from 2,908 PCNs in 2018, down from £58,463.69 in 2017 when 3,078 notices were dished out.
This includes fines for offences such as parking, misusing a bus lane or box junction, or turning right illegally.
More than £326million was collected in PCNs in 2018 by local authorities nationwide and Confused.com also discovered nearly three in four motorists who appealed against their fine were successful and paid a lower amount or none at all.
The data also revealed that confusion around signage was one of the main reasons that drivers were being fined.
Amanda Smith, community services manager at Malvern Hills District Council, said: “Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are enforced within the district for a number of reasons which are reflected in our car parking strategy.
“They aim to reduce congestion, ensure designated parking bays are available for relevant vehicles and allow buses to operate more efficiently. They also aim to improve the flow of traffic and encourage safe and sensible parking for all motorists.
Council chiefs stressed income generated from PCNs funded the enforcement service alone.
“Any money left over is passed back to Worcestershire County Council and can only be used for improvements to traffic management.
“Any income from PCNs issued on our car parks is invested back into these car parks. It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure they abide by parking regulations at all times, otherwise they will risk receiving a PCN.
“However, the driver has an opportunity to appeal against this by contacting our Parking Services Unit,” she added.
Westminster City Council received the most money from PCNs in the UK with 313,012 fines being issued in 2018 which yielded more than £16million for the authority.
Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, said: “The fact that almost three quarters of PCN appeals were successful last year suggests that some fines are being issued unfairly.
“Challenging an unfair fine can be both complicated and daunting. The appeal process is confusing and needs to be made clearer.
“With councils raking in more than £326million in PCNs, it’s only right that some of this fine money is invested to help make road signs clearer to eliminate the number of fines being distributed unfairly.”
Visit confused.com to see the company’s challenge checklist for drivers.
