Portsmouth City Council generates nearly £5,500 a day from parking charges - higher than any other Hampshire council

Figures obtained by Churchill Motor Insurance via a Freedom of Information request shows the local authority generated £5,417 a day on average in 2022. This has risen from the £4,828 figure in 2021.

In total, 230 UK councils provided statistics for the insurance company. Penalty charge notices (PCNs), also known as parking fines, are issued when motorists break parking regulations, such as by parking on double yellow lines or on a single yellow line at a prohibited time.

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Nicholas Mantel, head of Churchill Motor Insurance, said: ‘Motorists across Britain are regularly being caught out by increased and sometimes complicated parking restrictions. We would encourage drivers to always check parking signs carefully to ensure they avoid any expensive fines.

‘If motorists do receive a parking fine, they have 28 days to pay it or appeal to an independent tribunal.’ UK Councils typically issued a combined 19,631 parking fines a day last year, a 12 per cent increase from the 17,500 average in 2021.

As a result, the revenue generated by local authorities has also surged by an estimated £777,287 each day in 2022, according to Churchill. This is £35,113 more than what councils received every 24 hours in 2021, and £182,869 more than the daily average in 2020.

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Parking charges can reach up to £70 in areas outside of London, but this is typically halved if a driver pays within 14 days. The average local authority issued 85 fines per day costing drivers £3,486 in 2022.

Nationally, an average of £777,287 is generated on these fines. Portsmouth had the largest daily average revenue generated by councils in Hampshire, but Southampton City Council averaged a higher number of fines – 313 in 2022 and 174 in 2021 compared to 186 and 151 respectively.

In the Portsmouth area, Havant Borough Council accumulated £974 a day on average from 41 charges a day last year. Fareham Borough Council raised £207 a day from seven incidents.

Hampshire County Council generated £2,101 a day on average from 60 charges. East Hampshire District Council reported £485 a day from 17 charges.