Drivers have been shelling out £2bn a year to park in council-run spaces as fees are set to rise, it has been revealed.
Figures from the Department for Leveling Up show motorists paid £1.93 billion in fees and fines in the year to April 2023, up from £1.76 billion the previous year .
It comes as local authorities will this month increase parking charges by up to 60 per cent, as they face mounting debts and limits on how much they can increase in road tax. dwelling.
These include East Grinstead, West Sussex, where charges will rise by up to 30 per cent in some car parks and 29 per cent in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
In Kirklees, the West Yorkshire authority for Huddersfield, Holmfirth and Dewsbury, parking charges are increasing this month by 60 per cent, according to the Sunday Times.
Figures from the Department for Leveling Up show motorists paid £1.93 billion in fees and fines in the year to April 2023, up from £1.76 billion the previous year (stock photo)
Local authorities will this month increase parking charges by up to 60 per cent as they face mounting debts and limits on how much they can increase council tax (file image )
Elsewhere, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, parking charges will increase by 20% on April 19.
However, the region has implemented a new price monitoring system to avoid deterring buyers and harming the local economy.
Dan Hubert, chief executive of AppyWay, which created the new system, told the Sunday Times: “High streets have shrunk and cars and car parks have been treated like a cash cow. In some cases, cities pay more for law enforcement than they collect.
Paul Swinney, director of policy and research at the Center for Cities, a think tank, said: “For years we have heard arguments that parking charges are killing the high street. We will now be able to see if this is really the case.
Meanwhile, the new National Parking Platform, which will be used by some local authorities this month, will also provide real-time information on the use of parking spaces.
The service will also mean drivers will no longer need to download different parking apps for different zones.
It follows a Mail investigation revealing that more than two million drivers will soon be living in “parking meter deserts”.
Payment and display devices are increasingly being abandoned in favor of cashless options such as mobile phone apps.
Payment and display devices are increasingly being abandoned in favor of cashless options such as mobile phone apps (file photo)
A poll commissioned by the Mail last year found that more than half of over-65s are unwilling to use parking apps such as RingGo and PayByPhone.
And four in ten respondents across all ages said they would be deterred from going to city centers without parking meters.
Elsewhere, a public consultation is currently underway in London to consider whether parking penalties should increase from £160 on Transport for London-run roads to £130 on borough roads.
The Local Government Association, which represents local councils across England and Wales, said: “Revenue generated from parking charges is spent on running parking services. Any surplus is spent on essential transport projects, including addressing the £16 billion road repair backlog, reducing traffic congestion, tackling poor air quality and supporting bus services local.
“Motorists can avoid fines by ensuring they follow parking and traffic rules which are only there to help all drivers travel and find parking safely, smoothly and fairly. “
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