One in three parking tickets cancelled

Nearly a third of all parking tickets issued in Lichfield are cancelled, new figures reveal. In 12 months to March, 7,822 penalty charge notices were handed out in the city.

And on average 29 per cent of those were subsequently deemed to have been invalid. Reasons for this range from incorrectly displayed tickets and warden error to broken parking machines.

The figure represents an estimated loss of around £58,000 to Lichfield District Council, which has been responsible for enforcing parking regulations since March last year.

But bosses say the figures show they are taking a fair stance on parking enforcement.

Tickets can be invalid if a warden records the wrong registration number, colour or make of vehicle.

Drivers who display their tickets incorrectly or out of view will normally also have their penalty cancelled the first time they do it.

Bosses insist the figures - revealed in a report to the city's joint parking committee - are improving, though they are still well above the county-wide average of 20 per cent.

They say the number of cancellations is generally falling, particularly those due to warden error, which accounts for five per cent of all cancelled tickets.

But the situation is taking a toll on finances, with little prospect of traffic improvements promised by the cash windfall it was claimed the service would provide.

It was expected the new parking regime - staffed by wardens from APCOA on behalf of the council - would bring in around £142,000 a year from on-street penalties.

But the actual figure for the first year was just £69,180 - less than half the expected amount. The committee report says there is unlikely to be any money to invest in improvements until at least 2014.

Councillor Louise Flowith, cabinet member for operational services, said: "We are pleased that the number of tickets we cancel is reducing month on month. In the early days we had some issues with a couple of our new ticket machines, but these have now been resolved."