A PARKING company which works on behalf of Colchester Council has been accused of "hitting you with a stick" after it was revealed it had raked in tens of thousands every year for the last decade.

New figures obtained from a Freedom of Information request show the North Essex Parking Partnership has made an average of £84,000 each year over last ten 10 years from Colchester High Street parking fines.

The figures, exclusively published by the Gazette, also show it makes an average of £750,000 each year for parking fines issued across the borough.

Parking wardens issue thousands of tickets every year and, in 2023, that number was one of the highest recorded over the past decade, with 26,478 PCNs slapped on car windshields.

In 2019, the number of fines exceeded the 30,000 mark, when 30,409 tickets brought in £922,827 in revenue.

Gazette: Restrictions – cars are banned from Colchester High Street from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, but the figure of £848,708 only includes High Street parking finesRestrictions – cars are banned from Colchester High Street from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, but the figure of £848,708 only includes High Street parking fines (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest)

The next highest year was 2022 when 28,252 brought in £824,303.

Last year’s figures, meanwhile, were the third-highest for the period ranging 2013 to 2023.

Figures show 2014 was a particularly lean year for parking fines, however, with the council making £575,564 from 18,413 tickets.

The High Street has proved a particularly busy spot for parking wardens, with drivers seemingly undeterred by the prospect of parking fines.

Between 2013 and 2023, the council made £848,708 from High Street parking fines – and that number excludes the fines handed out for drivers flouting the city centre car ban.

Vineyard Street car park is the next most popular venue for parking tickets, though the amount of money made by the council is roughly half the amount from the High Street, at £441,635 from 2013 to 2023.

Crouch Street, where parking is free for half an hour, cost drivers £331,743 in fines over ten years.

Gazette: Lucrative – 2019 saw Colchester Council make £922,827.96 from parking fines after 30,409 parking fines were issued Lucrative – 2019 saw Colchester Council make £922,827.96 from parking fines after 30,409 parking fines were issued (Image: Newsquest)

Gazette: Angry - Robert Egerton, 79, who was fined for parking in Colchester High Street last yearAngry - Robert Egerton, 79, who was fined for parking in Colchester High Street last year (Image: Public)
Robert Egerton, 79, who is a blue badge holder and was fined for parking in the High Street in December, described the £848,708 figure as “abnormal”.

He said: “We have got the council which is there to justify their presence and look after the wellbeing of the proletariat, if you like, and at the same time they are hitting you with a stick.”

A spokesman for the North Essex Parking Partnership -  a shared service for which Colchester Council is the lead authority, said the money taken in by PCNs is reinvested.

He said: "PCNs will only ever be issued if a motorist is witnessed contravening a traffic road order and is a very small part of the wider picture in managing the public highway for all road users.

“Parking regulations are in place to keep all road users safe and ensure roads are passable for emergency vehicles; our aim is to educate first and issue a PCN if needed. 

“Any revenue generated from PCNs is reinvested into innovative and educational projects such as this scheme, 3PR, delivering digital service improvements, all of which aim to improve the parking experience for everyone across north Essex.”