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Parking fines - you'll pay more
THE cost of parking tickets and traffic fines will rise by £10 if Scarborough Council is given control.
At present the police are responsible for enforcing most parking laws, but Scarborough Council wants to ensure drivers comply with the regulations and plans an application to the Government.
There are currently about 17,800 excess charge notices issued for on street parking offences in Scarborough.
The new scheme would cover the whole borough and it is estimated that 21,200 tickets would be issued.
These cover offences such as parking on single and double yellow lines, parking on verges and footpaths, driving or parking on cycle paths and parking in areas designated as bus lanes, loading bays or areas reserved for doctors or disabled people.
The offences would no longer be crimes and all would be controlled by council staff rather than police officers. The council would have the power to take people to county courts to pay fines, rather than pursue them through criminal courts.
In a report to be discussed by councillors today, the local authority's head of engineering and procurement services John Riby recommends the council sets its charges at 40, with a 20 discount if they are settled within seven days.
The charge now is 30, with a discount of 10. Other options for councillors include setting the penalty charge at 50 or 60.
Income from the scheme can only be used for running costs, maintenance and provision of car parks, investing in public transport, road improvements and meeting legal costs to challenges to tickets.
In his report, Mr Riby says: "It's important that the charges are not set too high and that the scheme is not seen as a generator of income.
"If the application to the Government is made on that basis it could be refused."
Mr Riby says the costs of setting up the scheme would be 87,000 and that it would make in the region of 420,000 a year to be reinvested.
If councillors back the move, council officers hope to take control of policing all parking offences early next year.
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Weather for Scarborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
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Wind direction: North east
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Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
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