Law-breaking drivers still need to cough up more than £1m in parking fines in Greenwich, it can be revealed.
The council is still chasing more than 50 tickets issued three years ago as it looks to cash in on the £1.175m it’s owed by illegal parkers.
According to a Freedom of Information request, thousands of fines issued since 2014 remain outstanding in the borough.
MORE - Bexley Council is chasing more than £1.5m in unpaid parking fines
In 2014, 2015 and 2016, most fines were issued in Park Row car park, but in the last two years an increasing number of tickets have been handed out in Burney Street.
So far this year alone, £1m is owed from just over 6,880 fines.
The council said: “We do not prosecute those who do not pay a Penalty Charge Notice. The debt is registered with the Traffic Enforcement Centre at the Northampton County Court and passed to an enforcement agent to collect on the council’s behalf. Parking services use Marston Group and JBW Group to recover debts.
“This is at no cost to the council as the enforcement agencies add their own statutory regulated charges.”
It comes wekks after Greenwich Council admitted it has struggled to recruit and keep parking wardens.
At a full council meeting, the councillor said: “We don’t have enough parking wardens. We’ve been trying really hard to recruit them but it has not been easy.
“We had two rounds of recruitment where we did not manage to recruit a single person.
“We have had a few more in, we are introducing other measure as well which are mobile facilities and cameras. We will get on top of it.
“I agree it is not good enough. Parking across the borough is treacherous for people. We will be bringing it forward, I hope in six months you see a completely different story.”
Speaking in response to the new figures, Cllr Smith said: "Parking illegally causes problems for residents and businesses, and though the debt recovery process is set by Parliament and follows set timescales, we will continue to enforce against an increasing number of offenders.”
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