Driver notches up £31,500 parking fines in a year but dodges paying them

A DRIVER notched up £31,580 in 246 parking fines in a year but has not paid any of them.

The UK-registered vehicle’s owner amassed the penalties, averaging £128, in Westminster, central London.

Officials said most of the tickets were issued in one street but refused to say what kind of vehicle it was.

In Islington, North London, one driver got an average of a ticket almost every day, landing a bill of £22,710.

But the owner of a Mercedes van paid every one of the 334 tickets.

They were also issued on just one street and are thought to have been amassed by a builder who then added the fines to the price of their work.

In Lewisham, South East London, one driver picked up 223 fines last year totalling £28,990.

Medway Council in Kent said it was chasing one driver who had outstanding fines of £20,210, while in Birmingham, one motorist owes £19,350.

And Brent Council, in North West London, is owed £14,920 after 134 tickets were given to a VW with foreign plates.

Currently there are no laws to give authorities access to overseas driver and vehicle registration data to chase fines.

But collection agencies in Europe have tighter cross-border recovery procedures.

The AA said councils must be more “aggressive”.