Omagh and Fermanagh motorists are the most fined in the North

MOTORISTS in Omagh and Fermanagh have received the most parking tickets in the whole of the North over the last 12 months – with a staggering 6,695 tickets issued to offending drivers in the district.

Data analysed by CompareNI.com showed that Fermanagh and Omagh was the most fined area out of ten different council areas for parking tickets, surpassing the likes of Belfast (5,748 tickets issued) and Mid Ulster (2,910 tickets).

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council estimates that these tickets have cost the offending motorists anywhere between £301,275 to £903,825 collectively – a total which ranges from the minimum to the maximum fine enforced, depending on when the driver pays the fine, and not including tickets that were successfully appealed.

Meanwhile, Derry City and Strabane had the second highest number of parking tickets issued, with 6,478 tickets issued, with a total cost in excess of £153,229.

Coming in with the lowest amount of parking tickets issued by far was Antrim and Newtownabbey with 488 tickets, and statistics are still yet to be accrued from Causeway Coast and Glens.

In a recent survey by CompareNI.com 77 per-cent of 500 respondents surveyed said that parking tickets were ‘too expensive’, with 66 per-cent saying they should be more lenient.

Parking fines are currently £90, dropping to £45, if they are paid within 14 days.

When asked how they should be made more lenient, the most popular answers were; to get a warning before a fine (51 per-cent), make the fines cheaper (37 per-cent) and give people more time to pay their fine (10 per-cent).

A quarter of those surveyed also said they have been worried about how they are going to pay a parking ticket.

Some of the most popular reasons people get parking tickets included: Parked with some of the car covering a double yellow; parked outside the given parking hours for that particular spot; more parking time was purchased after the maximum stay had been reached and the vehicle had not moved; returning or continuing to park in a ‘no return’ area; parking on a single yellow line or area with kerb markings – designed for loading only; not parked correctly within the parking markings.