West Midlands drivers dodge £1 million in parking fines
More than 14,500 parking fines dished out to drivers in the Black Country remain unpaid – with councils missing out on more than £1 million.
Almost 10,000 went uncollected in one borough during a 12-month period, new figures have revealed.
Sandwell Council may have missed out on as much as £678,500 due to 9,850 uncollected fines in 2012.
Over the past five years it has missed out on funds from 45,519 fines. The maximum parking fine in Sandwell is £70.
In Wolverhampton, 2,675 parking fines issued in the last financial year remain unpaid, which would bring in £187,250 if drivers put up the maximum charge of £70.
In Walsall, 1,676 parking fines have not been paid, while 330 motorists in Dudley still have outstanding tickets to pay. The four Black Country boroughs have collected £2.3 million in parking fines in the last year but there were more than £1m unpaid.
Council bosses say in the majority of cases, motorists cannot be traced and are not responding to letters sent to addresses registered with the DVLA.
Wolverhampton's cabinet member for city services Councillor John Reynolds said: "The council follows a very firm but fair policy of robustly pursuing all those who are fined. Once a warrant is served, we're tireless in recovering the cash.
"Nonetheless, it's important to point out that the proportion of unpaid fines is relatively small."
Dudley Council's transport boss Khurshid Ahmed said the majority of drivers pay their parking fines.
"Where they remain unpaid it's normally because of difficulties tracing the motorist, such as when they have not kept the DVLA's details up to date," he said.
"In the last five years the number of unpaid parking fines in Dudley borough has reduced.
"Parking enforcement is essential to keep the borough moving and ensure people don't park in areas that are deemed unsuitable or unsafe."
Sandwell Council's highways boss Councillor Maria Crompton said she did not wish to comment on the figures.
It was revealed last month that hundreds of parking fineshanded out across the Black Country remain unpaid because tickets were given to foreign drivers who did not have an address registered with the DVLA.
