London councils have earned almost £8.5 million from pavement parking fines in 2023, in keeping with knowledge obtained by Autocar.

A Freedom of Information request uncovered that within the 12 months main as much as November, £8,443,068 was earned by councils in London from penalty cost notices (PCNs) given to drivers who parked on a pavement.

Newham was discovered to be the preferred borough for such infractions, with greater than 21,000 PCNs issued – almost half of which (45%) have not but been paid. 

Further analysis by Autocar revealed that almost a 3rd of all of the fines issued throughout London throughout that interval hadn’t been paid, with 167,066 issued and 111,495 paid.

Despite this, Newham council nonetheless earned £936,391 from pavement parking fines between January and November 2023.

Fines are handed to drivers discovered to be in breach of parking contravention code 62, which prevents vehicles from being parked with a number of wheels on the pavement. 

The regulation additionally bans parking on footways, on footpaths, in entrance of dropped kerbs or on raised carriageways and is enforced all 12 months spherical.

Last week, this got here into drive in Scotland, with its authorities introducing a regulation that may make offenders pay as much as £100.

Autocar editor Mark Tisshaw mentioned: “Scotland is following London’s lead by clamping down on pavement parking, which might have critical penalties for pedestrians – particularly these with decreased mobility.

“Drivers throughout the nation – in each rural and concrete areas – want to grasp the principles to keep away from being fined.”

In the capital, fines gathered from parking infractions are certain by regulation to be put again into the mayor’s transport technique, which was launched in 2018 and includes an enchancment in public transport and jobs and houses created for London residents. 

The cash will due to this fact be invested in off-street parking, public transport providers and freeway upkeep.