Only central London has more traffic wardens than Edinburgh

Freedom of information requests to councils across the UK reveal that 121 wardens operate in Scotland’s capital, second only to the London boroughs of Westminster and Islington.

Edinburgh has a £5.9 million-a-year contract with the private firm NSL, formerly NCP, to provide its parking attendants.

Edinburgh City Council currently issues more than £5.7m worth of tickets a year, although this figure has dropped by more than a million pounds in the past four years.

A further drop is expected this year after Edinburgh City Council decided to waive charges after 5pm in the city centre throughout August as part of drive to boost the capital’s festivals.

However, the council insisted it needed to maintain a high number of parking attendants to ensure the city was kept “moving smoothly”, and that a clear and visible presence of wardens was needed to persuade drivers to meet the city’s parking regulations.

It emerged this week that almost one in every six tickets in Edinburgh has been successfully challenged.

Earlier this year, new figures showed how the number of parking tickets issued in the busiest streets such as George Street had risen by almost 3 per cent in the past year.

Insurance firm LV= surveyed more than 200 local authorities across Britain using freedom of information to discover that £340m has been issued in fines over the past 12 months.

Edinburgh issued 196,488 parking tickets in 2011-12, a rise from the 191,551 issued in the previous 12 months.

However, the council generated a further £15m from parking charges, including pay-and- display fees and residential permits.

In the nationwide survey, only Westminster, with 242 wardens, and Islington, in north London, which had 135, had more parking attendants than Edinburgh. The UK average for a council area is just 16.

John O’Roarke, managing director at LV=, said: “The lack of free parking is putting increasing pressure on cash-strapped motorists and many are resorting to parking illegally.

“This problem is being exacerbated as councils increase the number of paid parking zones in their areas and take on more parking attendants to police them.

“Motorists who are visiting busy areas should plan ahead and consider parking slightly further away to avoid high parking charges.”

Brian Gregory, chairman of the Association of British Drivers, added: “The war on the motorist is intensifying.

“Drivers are being taken for a ride. Local authorities are supposed to operate parking regimes on a non-profit-making basis, but many of them are coining it in.” Council officials in Edinburgh said the city’s economic vitality relied on people being able to move about a compact and densely populated urban area easily.

A spokeswoman for the authority added: “We are responsible for enforcing parking restrictions over a wide geographical area, which incorporates one of the UK’s biggest controlled parking zones, including a large number of roads which are vital to the free flow of traffic in and out of the city.

“These factors, combined with the fact that there are approximately 22,000 residents’ permits in circulation and an exceptionally large number of tourist visitors each year, means that sufficient numbers of parking attendants are required in order to keep the city moving smoothly.”