A traffic warden checks for illegal parking along King Street, Cambridge

HALF of the parking tickets issued in the top 20 illegal parking hotspots in Cambridge are for unauthorised parking on just five city centre streets.

Latest figures show that 13,955 tickets were issued by a team of 30 parking attendants working on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council on the top 20 city streets for parking fines from April to December.

And 6,793 of these – 49 per cent – were for illegal parking in Trumpington Street, Chesterton Road, Park Terrace, King Street and Queen’s Road.

The data mirrors the situation the previous year – the 2010-11 financial year – where a total of 8,501 tickets were issued in these five streets alone.

On each of these occasions motorists were given £70 fines for offences such as parking on yellow lines and £50 fines for wrong-doings such as outstaying the meter time – with many drivers caught out by the myth that they are allowed 10-minutes’ grace.

Sarah Juggins, editor of Cambridge-based Parking News – the publication for the British Parking Association – said the sheer number of tickets issued in Cambridge reflects the city’s high parking costs.

As parking fines are halved if paid within 14 days, there is little difference between purposely leaving a car on an expired meter ticket and paying £23 to park in the Grand Arcade car park for more than five hours on a weekday.

Miss Juggins said: “I believe Cambridge is one of the most congested areas in the UK in terms of parking requirements and there are a lot of people fighting for very few spaces.

“The other problem Cambridge has is that the charges are so high that the risk of a penalty ticket at £25, if you pay it within two weeks, is almost worth it.

“The British Parking Association, in particular, is pushing the Government to go ahead and raise parking fines to make them proportional to parking costs.”

She added: Cambridge is incredibly well served by its park and ride service, and in an age when we are trying to cut down traffic in the city centre it’s up to people to be a bit more responsible and use it.”

Simon Payne, director of environment at Cambridge City Council argued that Cambridge was very well served for car parks.

“The position is we have a number of city centre car parks and message signs to provide the number of available spaces,” he said.

“There are lots of alternatives for people wanting to come to the city for business or leisure.

“The multi-storey car parks are safe and secure and then there are the park and ride services at the edge of the city centre.

“There are a number of different options for people to get in and there’s no need for anyone to put themselves at risk of a fine by staying too long on a street.”

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire County Council warned that motorists parking illegally can expect to receive a ticket.

He said: “We would advise all motorists parking in Cambridge to ensure they are fully aware of the regulations and restrictions that cover the area where they plan to leave their car.

“The restrictions that apply are clearly signposted at each location.”

The fines collected by Cambridgeshire County Council are incorporated into its highways budget and are allocated towards paying for projects including the Shopmobility scheme as well as park and ride services.