OVER £6million was paid by drivers in Wiltshire Council car parks last year, a Freedom of Information request can reveal.
The council raised £6,118,157 from its parking charges between January 1st and December 31st 2023, while parking fines cost drivers £801,159, after 23,400 parking tickets were issued.
The fines were considerably more than in 2022, when Wiltshire Council issued 18,915 parking charge notices (PCNs) and collected £637,910.
It was also revealed that the number of unpaid parking fines in Wiltshire between January 1st and December 1st 2023, was 2,691.
Official government guidance states that if you do not pay a PCN within 28 days, you’ll get a ‘charge certificate’ and you’ll have 14 days to pay the original fine plus 50% more. If this also remains unpaid within 14 days, you can expect a court order demanding payment.
Cllr Caroline Thomas, the cabinet member for transport at Wiltshire Council, has said that PCNs are only issued as a “last resort.”
The Wiltshire Council-owned car parks which charge in Melksham are in Bath Road, Church Street, King Street, Lowbourne, and Union Street.
