Parking fines set to soar to £60

For those who pay up within 14 days, the fine is cut to 30.

The council s cabinet agreed to the increase on Monday after hearing that there is still a high level of offending in Hastings.

In the last financial year a massive 50,000-plus penalty charge notices were issued.

But many parking offenders are not paying up without a fight.

Highways chief Richard Homewood said: The costs of dealing with the high level of objections and appeals have also increased and there is currently a high cancellation rate for unrecoverable penalty charge notices where the vehicle user is not the registered keeper.

He said it meant that arguably there was a case for upping the penalty charge on the grounds set by the Secretary of State - fines chosen by an authority should be in line with making sure people complied with the regulations and which would produce a system of decriminalised parking enforcement which was self financing as soon as possible.

But putting up the penalty charges would not guarantee a similar increase in overall income from the fines, councillors were warned.

Mr Homewood said it was difficult to predict; motorists could elect to pay the 30 rather than risk having to pay 60 or more could contest the charges.

And if the increase in the fines achieved the desired effect of more people complying with the parking restrictions, the number of tickets issued would be likely to fall.

Council officers felt the level of people abiding by the parking restrictions could improve and putting up the penalty charges would help, said Mr Homewood.

Cllr Paul Silverson told the Observer: The increase of the penalty charge to 60 (30 if paid within 14 days) will not only bring the charge in Hastings and St Leonards into line with other local authorities responsible for parking regulations but is also seen as a further demonstration of the council s commitment to target offenders, rather than penalise law abiding motorists.

The council s aim is to ensure a high level of compliance with parking regulations, ensuring the roads are clear of obstruction and safe for all road users.

He added: The council has demonstrated its commitment to deal with the persistent parking offenders introducing wheel clamping and vehicle removal operations for those vehicles which have five or more outstanding penalty charge notices or are unlicensed and committing parking offences.