Westminster Conservatives collected over £38 million in parking fines in 2006/07, the largest amount in the country, representing an increase of £7 million over the previous year - a 23% increase.

At the same time the Conservative run Council cancelled 67,000 (42%) of the 159,000 parking tickets issued by the Council which were challenged by motorists.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group on Westminster Council said,

“Westminster Conservatives are using parking fines to finance the Council. It is a crazy state of affairs when so much of the Council’s activities are dependent on parking wardens issuing as many tickets as possible. It seems as if the Conservatives are issuing parking tickets like confetti. There must be something wrong with a system when almost half of the parking tickets issued by the Council have to be cancelled when they are challenged by drivers.”

“No wonder Westminster is awash with money with a 23% increase in parking income. No other council in the country is able to benefit to the same extent from having such a massive annual income and is the only reason that Westminster Conservatives are able to to charge a low Council Tax.”