Parking warden service cost £1 million

WARRINGTON’S controversial parking warden service cost more than £1 million to operate last year – and made a loss of £52,421.
This compared with a profit of £73,242 the previous year.
A total of 13,909 tickets were issued by the team of wardens – or Civil Enforcement Officers – compared with 17,575 the previous year.
Total expenditure on the service was £1,007,123 while the total income was £954,702, according to a report to the borough council’s executive board. The majority of parking contraventions took place on the streets.
A total of 11,934 tickets were issued for on-street parking offences compared with only 1,975 for offences off-street.
Amazingly, the figures show that only one ticket was issued for parking off-street without payment of the parking charge.
Off-street, a total of 921 challenges were made against the issue of parking tickets and 699 tickets were cancelled for a variety of reasons.
On-street, representations were made against 2,637 tickets and a total of 1,645 tickets were cancelled.
The executive board will be told that part of the guidance to councils on civil parking enforcement states that local authorities should be self-financing as soon as practicable.