'Parking fines no longer a deterrent for drivers'

Residents in a county have said that receiving a parking penalty is no longer a deterrent for some drivers, after it was revealed thousands of fines remained unpaid.

Ipswich Borough Council issued more than 35,000 parking tickets between September 2023 and August 2024, data from a Freedom of Information request shows.

About 18,000 of those penalty charge notices (PCN) were paid, but more than 17,000 were not and only 1,269 were passed on to bailiffs to chase down.

The council said the process of recovering parking debts can take as long as two years, which is why a large percentage of the fines issued remain unrecovered.

Paul Chamberlain, 67, from Ipswich, said motorists no longer fear being punished for parking poorly.

“While they are getting issued tickets and knowing they can get away with it - and it seems to be an expectation they will get away with it - it’s no deterrent at all,” he said.

“Why should we continue doing the right thing and paying to park when other people flout the rules and don’t have to pay anything?

“It’s a slap in the face and just seems bizarre. The technology exists so these fines could be either collected or the person could no longer be able to insure or licence their vehicle.

“It is a spiral which ends up making the situation a lot worse where, if the council would just clamp down on it from the start, then we wouldn’t be in this position."

Glen Chisholm, 51, also from Ipswich, agrees that parking fines are no longer the deterrent they once were.

Mr Chisholm, who has a spinal cord injury, also said motorists need to be more conscious of the impact illegal parking can have on those who are disabled.

He said: “There has to be a consequence for your actions and if you are continuously breaching the rules then you should be fined.

“It doesn’t seem to be working if nobody is paying the fines and the fines aren’t being enforced - what kind of deterrent is that?

“The parking around here is terrible and sometimes I walk onto the pavement and each way I look it is blocked off and that means I have to navigate oncoming traffic.

“At night I get vivid flashbacks to when I once fell into the road and I can feel the pain in my shoulder and taste the grit in my mouth.

“So, having to go into the road because of inconsiderate parking does bring these memories up and it can be traumatic.”

Ipswich Borough Council has reassured residents that “persistent evaders issued with three or more unpaid fines risk” having their cars clamped or removed.

A council spokesperson said: “Where a PNC remains unpaid, it is pursued further and passed over to Enforcement Agents for debt recovery action.

“This can include seizures of goods or the vehicle in question to cover the debt owed to the council.

“PCN debts can be recovered by Enforcement Agents at no cost to the council but recovery action can take up to two years to complete.

“We make no apology for issuing a PCN.”

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