Drivers in Haringey hit with £57 parking fine each day (From Haringey Independent)

Drivers in Haringey hit with £57 parking fine each day

2:53pm Wednesday 25th November 2009 in News By Elizabeth Pears

Haringey Council raked in £7,449,000 in parking fines against motorists over the past year, new figures reveal.

The huge sum was collected by the council between April 2008 and March 2009, with the average driver being hit with a £57.41 fine every day.

It is the third highest charge across all 32 London boroughs, beaten only by Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea which both sit in the heart of the capital.

Local authorities, including Haringey, are using motorists as "cash cows", said the Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA) who published the information following a Freedom of Information(FOI) request.

Jennifer Dunn, policy analyst with both the Drivers Alliance and the TPA, said: "For many councils parking fines have become a lucrative source of income.

"But while revenues are being made at the cost of the motorist, taxpayers haven’t seen their council tax fall, or their local services improve. Motorists are being treated like cash cows, but the only people that appear to be benefiting are wardens and their bosses."

Haringey Council said the authority simply enforced parking fines on motorists who broke the law designed to keep traffic flowing and its residents safe.

A statement said: "If vehicle owners park illegally, they should expect to get a parking ticket.

"Money received from parking fines is ring-fenced for traffic schemes such as road safety and traffic calming measures, which contributed again last year to a reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in the borough."

It addded that anyone unhappy with a council decision could challenge it through an independent appeal process.