Council raked in almost £400,000 in parking tickets

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Cars with parking tickets

Rochdale Borough Council received £399,058 income from parking fines (Penalty Charge Notices) in the last financial year.

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has suggested shoppers are being put off visiting town centres because of "over-zealous enforcement" of parking rules and warned councils against using motorists as a "cash cow" to compensate for falling income in other areas. He has urged free parking on double yellow lines for 15 minutes.

Mr Pickles said town halls were "not listening" to concerns about the impact of parking policies on shops and families.

"The law is clear that parking is not a tax or cash cow for town hall officers," he said.

A spokesperson for Rochdale Council said: "This revenue stream is used to fund the cost of Civil Parking Enforcement, which helps to maintain safety on the Highway, ease congestion, and maintain free flow of traffic.

"Any surplus money would be used for providing, maintaining and improving parking facilities and the local transportation network.”

In 2011, the coalition government scrapped guidance drawn up by Labour encouraging councils to set charges at a level which would encourage the use of public transport.

By giving councils the freedom to set parking charges as they liked, it was hoped they would introduce more competitive rates to boost the High Street but critics warned that some town halls would go the other way and raise prices.