Parking tickets ‘tax’ claim - Queensway motorists hit by over £1.5m in fines during 2009

A WORD of warning for motorists driving along Queensway: stop at your peril! 
New figures show the road in Bayswater has claimed the fourth highest number of parking ticket victims in the capital, raking in more than £1.5million in fines for Westminster Council in 2009.
It ranks just behind Station Road in Harrow, Southampton Row in Camden and Chiswick High Road in Hounslow.
Opposition councillors say the figure is evidence City Hall is using tickets to bolster revenue during the recession.
Labour group leader Paul Dimoldenberg called it a “tax”. 
He said: “Westminster’s finances are in such a dire situation that many residents in Bayswater and Lancaster Gate are now paying extra taxes through parking fines. Tens of thousands of Westminster residents use Queens­­way every week and many of them will have been given a £120 parking tax bill for minor parking offences. The new £120 ‘Queens­way Tax’ will hit many residents hard over the coming months,” he said.
City Hall defended their ticketing policy.
Councillor Danny Chalkley, cabinet member for city management, said: “We understand that parking enforcement is not always popular but with well over half a million vehicles entering Westminster every day, it is a necessary tool to protect the safety of motorists and pedestrians and to keep traffic moving around the city.
“Our parking attendants issue an average of just one parking ticket per hour to motorists who are parked illegally. In recent years there has also been a decreasing trend in the number of tickets issued in Westminster, with a drop by almost 20 per cent in the number of tickets issued last year compared to the year before.
“It must be stressed, though, that as a local authority we are legally not allowed to make a profit from our parking services. 
“Every single penny of surplus income collected from parking in Westminster is ploughed straight back into major transport projects and improvements to benefit residents, businesses and visitors to our city.”
JAMIE WELHAM