Council rakes in staggering £24,000 in parking fines from just one street

A council in the South West has raked in more than £24,000 in parking fines from one street alone.

St. Stephen's Road in Bournemouth regularly fills up on summer days, with drivers double-parking or using verges as a result.

New figures released under Freedom of Information laws have revealed just how much the Liberal Democrat-run Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has earned from parking fines on the street.

The Dorset council handed out 389 fines worth £24,160 between last June and this May, with the majority of fines for restricted parking or overstaying.

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Drivers were slapped with 135 fines for parking in restricted areas and 126 for overstaying.

A further 49 tickets were given for failing to display a valid residents' permit, 30 citations for waiting or unloading where banned, 29 loading-bay cases and six vehicles in disabled bays.

Bournemouth used the road in a trial last August where parking fines and penalty charge notices were doubled.

The trial will run again next month, with fines for "higher tariff" offences more than doubled, from £70 to £160 in order to deter illegal parking.

But it has previously faced criticism from Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and the AA.

Ms Alexander said: "In supporting BCP's August 2025 trial, my officials suggested a number of steps to strengthen both the robustness of the analysis and interpretation of findings. This advice was not followed completely.

"Moreover, while BCP shared early drafts, the final report was published without further engagement with DfT officials. This must not be repeated."

The AA also criticised the initial trial, with president Edmund King saying the report revealed the "Department for Transport was not happy with the way the council used its special powers".

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Responding to Mrs Alexander, councillor Richard Herrett, the cabinet member for parking at BCP Council, told the BBC: "Last year, the secretary of state asked us to implement a nationally significant trial on 10 working days' notice, during which our officers worked tirelessly, and collaboratively, with officials from the Department for Transport.

"We are proud of the work undertaken by our officer team which has since been recognised as best practice by other local authorities, and industry experts. We delivered everything that was possible in the timescale set by the DfT.

"We are committed to working with Government to secure a permanent solution to reduce illegal parking."

Responding to the new data which revealed how much the council made, he told The Telegraph: "All of St Stephen's Road is already covered by parking restrictions – but this does not always offer an effective deterrent, as these figures show.

"However, St Stephen’s Road was included in last year's trial of increased parking fines and penalty charge notices, carried out in August."

Mr Herrett said there was a fall in the number of penalty charge notices during the doubling trial, with 27 fewer than in August 2024, a decrease of seven per cent, also noting that the BCP area was "as popular as ever".

He added: "We will repeat this trial in August 2026 following our continued calls to the Government for a permanent solution to reduce illegal parking.

"This trial offers another opportunity to show that increased fines work."

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