Increase in parking tickets

Lurgan came in at number 14 in the most ticketed towns for 2016 with 1,164 Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) for on-street parking, up from the previous year’s total of 1,042.

Armagh sat at number six with 2,747 charges issues, up from 2,567 in 2015 with Portadown notching up eighth place with 2,438 charges issued, up from 2,006 in 2015.

Gilford had only five PCNs issued, one more than the previous year and Moira also saw an increase in 2016 up to 227 from the 2015 total of 123.

Banbridge also experienced an increase in the number of tickets issued, rising from 710 (2015) to 964 in 2016.

When it came to off-street parking, which the Department operates on behalf of councils, the number of Penalty Charge Notices in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon council area rose from 3,862 in 2015 to 4,441 in 2016.

Lurgan saw a slight reduction on the number of off-street tickets issued, dropping from 541 in 2015 to 515 in 2016. However, Armagh increased from 843 (2015) to 1,147 (2016) as did Banbridge from 659 (in 2015) to 783 (in 2016); Portadown’s PCNs rose from 1,719 (2015) to 1,989 in 2016.

For Nothern Ireland as a whole parking fines rose by 11% in just one year - potentially worth up to £13m in revenue.

Figures, published by the Department for Infrastructure in its Penalty Charge Notice Statistics 2015 and 2016 report, reveal almost 85,000 Penalty Charge Notices were dished out on Northern Ireland’s streets in 2016, up 8,722 from 2015. It also emerged that over 36,000 fines were issued to drivers in car parks, 3,628 more than the previous year.