Dundee motorist facing £19,140 in unpaid parking fines

A MOTORIST has racked up an astonishing 319 parking fines.

The unnamed individual, from Dundee, faces a total bill of at least £19,140, based on the city council’s standard £60 fine.

But the fine rises to £90 if unpaid, so the overall amount owed could be as much as £28,710.

A Freedom of Information response says the driver still owes them cash, but does not say how much.

Dundee City Council is owed a total of £1,275,513.26 in outstanding in fines handed out on city streets in recent years.

The fines – revealed in new figures – have most commonly been issued in Perth Road, South Tay Street, Bell Street, Exchange Street and Crichton Street.

In 2015 up to the end of November, the council had issued 20,538 parking fines.

There was a further 25,415 issued the previous year and 23,180 in 2013-14.

Among those receiving a parking fine recently was city councillor John Alexander.

Mr Alexander said: “No-one is immune from parking tickets, including councillors on official business. I made sure I paid my parking ticket on time and everyone else should do the same.”

Mr Alexander said that parking tickets were given out for a reason and should never be ignored.

He added: “There are obviously times when poor or illegal parking can be a serious hazard. For example, if a car obstructs a pavement and pedestrians or even wheelchair users are forced to go on to the road.”

He said it was also concerning that at a time where the council is having to find such huge budget cuts that so much money is outstanding to the council in parking fines.

Mr Alexander added: “This is money that should be coming to the council and we will definitely chase up any unpaid or outstanding fines.

“If someone believes they have a genuine reason however for not paying the fine, there is a process that they can go through.

“There is a way to appeal and that can go all the way to the Ombudsman if someone believes they have been given a parking ticket wrongly.

“However, appeals need to be looked at case by case and if someone gets a ticket they need to accept that they will likely be required to pay.”