Parking fines pulling in £6.4m

Fines swelled council coffers in Britain by £328 million between April 2008 and April 2009.

But the figures show income from parking fines actually dropped by 16 per cent nationally from the year before.

Research by campaign groups Taxpayers Alliance and Drivers' Alliance reveal the importance of revenue from parking fines to councils in the West Midlands, many of which are making budget cuts. But overall revenue in the region dropped by £400,000, a fall attributed by one council leader to drivers being more careful during the recession.

In the West Midlands, Birmingham City Council made £4m, down compared to £4.6m the year before.

The largest drop in the Black Country was in Dudley where the council saw its £97,234 figure of last year reduce to £15,244 – but that figure does not reflect the whole year as the figures have not been completely collated yet.

Wolverhampton City Council made £600,082 compared to to £636,886 the year before and in Sandwell parking fine revenues fell from £1,069,153 to £898,750.

But other areas saw increases. Stafford Borough Council reported a rise from £134,157 to £370,626 and Walsall Council brought in £95,612 up from £60,271.

Wyre Forest's income between April 2008 and April 2009 was £281,478. Lichfield's revenue dropped from £83,493 to £61,655 and Cannock Chase dropped from £32,118 to £26,606.

Wolverhampton's finance chief, Councillor Wendy Thompson, said: "People don't want to waste money on parking fines, particularly in a recession. The message is getting through."

But Jennifer Dunn, of the Drivers' Alliance and the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "For many councils, parking fines have become a lucrative source of income."