Westminster's most wanted parking evaders revealed (07/03/2008)

Westminster Council is hunting down its top ten most prolific parking offenders who owe nearly £400,000 in unpaid parking fines.

This figure - which has doubled in the last six months - has been generated by just ten motorists who have collected more than 2,400 parking tickets between them.

The council can reveal that while the majority of drivers play fair and stick to the rules, 8% the equivalent of 5,000 motorists, are responsible for a quarter of all unpaid tickets issued in Westminster.

But the most prolific parking evader in the city owes £42,660 in fines after racking up 264 tickets - all unpaid.

The motorist, who drives a white ford transit van - registration plate EF05YFS - was the seventh most prolific parking offender just six months ago, but has recently shot up the ranks to become the most persistent evader of the bunch.

Motorists who have three or more unpaid parking tickets and are spotted parking on Westminster’s streets can expect their cars to be removed and stored in one of the council’s car pounds until the driver pays up.

Latest figures show that Westminster has 300 vehicles in its central London car pound, most of which were towed away because their owners have multiple unpaid fines in their name for parking in dangerous locations or residents bays.

Cars stored at the pound include everything from family cars and small hatchbacks to top of the range of models such as a BMW 3 Series and Mercedes Benz.

Councillor Danny Chalkley, Westminster's Cabinet Member for Transportation and Economic Development, said:

"We are targeting a hardcore group of evaders who flout the law and simply refuse to pay for their parking fines despite being sent reminders from the council that they need to do so.

"No one likes getting a parking ticket but most motorists play fair and either pay the fine or follow the appeals process. Yet this tiny minority feel the rules do not apply to them.

"We will pursue these persistent evaders to recover the money owed to us because often these vehicles are not properly licensed or display fake or stolen disabled blue badges."

Last week, Westminster announced that it would be phasing out clamping in the city, except for persistent evaders.

The council says it plans to target persistent offenders only for clamping - in line with the Traffic Management Act, which is due to come into force at the end of the month

ENDS