Nearly a fifth of all the parking tickets issued in the Cannock Chase district are cancelled, new figures reveal.

Since April this year, a total of 3,314 penalty charge notices have been handed out across the district.

Of those, 563 – or around 17 per cent – have subsequently been deemed to have been invalid.

Reasons for this range from incorrectly displayed tickets or blue badges to warden error and broken parking meters.

Bosses at Cannock Chase Council, who took over responsibility for enforcing parking regulations in March last year, were today unable to say how much the figure represents in terms of lost income.

But they stressed the authority does not make a profit out of parking fines, with all the cash going into a central fund for highway improvements across Staffordshire.

They also said the figures – revealed in a report to the council’s joint parking committee – show they are taking a fair approach to parking enforcement.

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

Disabled drivers who display their blue badges incorrectly or out of view will normally also have their penalty cancelled the first time they do it.

Councillor Tony Williams, the council’s environment leader, said: “We are always fair with members of the public who feel they have received an incorrect fixed penalty notice and there is an appeals process.

“The largest number of cancelled tickets relates to disabled motorists not displaying their blue badges correctly. If a blue badge is not displayed clearly our enforcement officers cannot see if it is valid and we have to issue a ticket.”

By Matt Nicholls