Councils are being forced to rip up millions of unpaid parking fines issued to foreign drivers, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned.
The LGA said councils were often unable to trace drivers of foreign vehicles leading to thousands of fines being written off each year.
The survey of councils revealed that Oxfordshire, Southampton and Portsmouth councils have collectively ripped up 10,000 tickets issued in the past five years to foreign-registered vehicles valued at more than £500,000.
Brighton is owed more than £750,000 in unpaid fines, while Bournemouth Council has been forced to write off £57,000.
Cllr Peter Box, chair of the LGA’s Economy and Transport Board, said: ‘Reckless and inconsiderate parking by non-UK registered vehicles puts other drivers and pedestrians at risk. The millions of pounds worth of fines written off could also be spent filling potholes, providing bus services and tackling the £12 billion repair backlog to bring our roads up to scratch.
‘EU limits allowing foreign-registered cars to drive on our roads for six months before registering are arguably too long. However, the fact the Government isn’t actually tracking cars coming in and out of the country and is unaware how many exceed the deadline makes this largely irrelevant.’
The LGA warned that foreign vehicles were able to ‘disappear’ by going unregistered as the DVLA only records information about non-UK-registered vehicles when they are notified through offence reports. It is calling for the Government to crack down on those failing to register after six months to help councils chase outstanding parking fines.
